The Canadian goaltender has just been invited to the hockey hall of honor in Toronto Roberto Luongo uttered the legendary words in April 2013. Luongo opened up in the press room at Vancouver’s home arena after the club had once again failed to trade the goaltender, who was operating under a $64 million contract.
– My contract is deep down, a tearful and disappointed Luongo said in front of the media.
– Now I would reject that contract if I could.
The player trade was the will of both the club and the player, but the expensive contract made trading difficult.
Luongo, who turned 34 at the time, cannot be directly compared to Carolina’s 21-year-old Jesperi to Kotkaniemibut it is difficult to discuss the Poriáis promise without talking about money at the same time.
Last winter, Carolina offered the Pori player a new contract of no less than 8 years, the value of which will rise to more than 38 million yen. A year earlier, Carolina grabbed the ace breeder from Montreal with a so-called offer sheet – Kotkaniemi earned an incredible 6.1 million bucks last season.
Carolina, in other words, paid Kotkaniemi nearly 45 million bucks with two contracts in eight months!
The amounts are huge when compared to the displays of a young player. Kotkaniemi has scored a best of 12 goals during his four-year NHL career, and the modest point record (34) is also from four years ago. In accordance with the new NHL trend, the club pays the player practically for potential.
Salary at the level of Granlund and Lehkonen
Kotkaniemi’s merits are out of proportion when compared to other players.
For example, having played in the NHL for ten years Mikael Granlund has earned about 35 million so far in his career – so ten million less than what Carolina hit the table for Kotkaniemi in less than a year. From the current season, Granlund Tiena 5 and Kotkaniemi 4.8 million.
Having won the Stanley Cup in the summer and becoming an irreplaceable soul player for Colorado Artturi Lehkonen the latest contract guarantees the man from Turku an annual income of 4.5 million talas.
Kotkaniemi already operates in the Finnish salary elite, although he is still very much in the process as a player.
And the intention is not to criticize Kotkaniemi about the contracts. Anyone would have drawn their name to the offers that contained the plush offers. The situation is completely exceptional, especially in Finnish hockey. Rarely, if ever, have Finnish players been hit with such huge sums on such thin screens.
The other side of the bill is that with a thick wallet comes high expectations.
Even though Kotkaniemi’s best years are probably yet to come and the amounts to be paid to him as the salary cap rises are moderate, the contract may also become a problem. Despite the long contracts, the NHL is a hard result sport and even Kotkaniemi doesn’t have endless time.
This fall, Kotkaniemi has operated as Carolina’s second center alongside the Russian star Andrei Svetshnikov, but the results have been poor. The Pori center has scored a modest 2+3 in 22 matches. It is clear that this is not enough from the second center of a team that is seriously aiming for the Stanley Cup.
The second-ranked center for defending champion Colorado at the time Nazem Kadri scored 87 points in the regular season last season.
Below you can watch three video examples of Kotkaniemi’s current weaknesses in center play.
Points are not accumulated even with superiority
Kotkaniemi has played cheerfully at times and, for example, has clearly developed as a starter, but the ratio of dangerous goal posts is only 48 percent. All other forwards in the team reach over 50 percent.
In Kotkaniemi’s five-on-five game, not much happens from the point of view of power.
Even with the overwhelming majority, the results have been poor. During the two Carolina seasons, Kotkaniemi has played 125 minutes with superiority, scoring only six points, one goal has been accumulated.
The criticism above is cutting, but this is how the cookie for a fifth-season NHL player crumbles if the salary is paid almost five million dollars a year. Kotkaniemi certainly does not see himself as the brakeman of the triple chain, but specifically as a player of the profit unit.
It is also appropriate to ask how long the training tendon will last if the taps do not open.
Only the Stanley Cup is good for Carolina, which is partly raising the bar for Kotkaniemi. If another profit unit cannot be built around Kotkaniemi within a reasonable time frame, there will probably be changes.
If the center was sought from outside, the message in the direction of Kotkaniemi would be blunt. Then Kotkaniemi would be only fourth in the center rotation in an instant Sebastian Ahonnew confirmation as well By Jordan Staal after. In this scenario, it is also appropriate to ask, how long is the club willing to pay a salary of five million to a bottom chain player?
If Kotkaniemi’s business goes south, the medium-cost and long contract will become difficult from a commercial point of view.