| Jesperi Kotkaniemi | |
|---|---|
 | |
| Born | 6 July 2000, Pori, Finland |
| Height Weight |
6 ft 2 in (1.88 m) 198 lb (90 kg; 14 st 2 lb) |
| Position | Centre |
| Shoots | Left |
| NHL team F. teams |
Montreal Canadiens Ässät |
| NHL Draft | 3rd overall, 2018 Montreal Canadiens |
| Playing career | 2017–present |
Jesperi Kotkaniemi (Finnish pronunciation: [ˈjesperi ˈkotkɑnie̯mi]; born 6 July 2000) is a Finnish professional ice hockey center currently playing for the Montreal Canadiens of the National Hockey League (NHL). He was drafted third overall by the Canadiens in the 2018 NHL Entry Draft.
In October 2018, he became the first player born in the 2000s to play in one of the major professional sports leagues in the United States and Canada, when he appeared on the Canadiens opening night roster.
Playing career[]
Finland[]
Kotkaniemi began his youth career playing with hometown club, Porin Ässät, as a 14-year old at the under-16 level in 2014. Having progressed through the junior ranks and showing offensive potential, Kotkaniemi made his Liiga debut with Ässät to start the 2017–18 season, on 9 September 2017 where he scored his first professional goal.[1] As a 17-year old rookie, Kotkaniemi posted impressive offensive totals, collecting 10 goals and 29 points in 57 games.[2]
Montreal Canadiens[]
On 22 June 2018, having been touted amongst the top players by the NHL Central Scouting service, Kotkaniemi was drafted third overall in the 2018 NHL Entry Draft by the Montreal Canadiens.[3] After attending the club's development camp, he was signed to a three-year, entry-level contract on 2 July 2018.[4]
On 3 October 2018, Kotkaniemi made his NHL debut against the Toronto Maple Leafs; he earned one assist in the loss. He thus became the first person born in the year 2000 to play in one of the Big Four professional sports leagues in North America.[5][6] Kotkaniemi scored his first NHL goal on 1 November 2018 against the Washington Capitals.[7] At 18 years, 118 days old, he became the second youngest goal scorer in Canadiens' history behind Mario Tremblay, who tallied his first goal at age 18 years, 75 days on 16 November 1974 against the New York Rangers at the Forum.[8] Kotkaniemi added a second goal in the third period of the same game, tying the score at 4–4 en route to a 6–4 Montreal victory,[7] and becoming the youngest player in NHL history not born in North America to score at least twice in one NHL game. He surpassed fellow Finn Patrik Laine, who, at 18 years, 183 days, recorded a hat trick for the Winnipeg Jets in a 5–4 win against the Toronto Maple Leafs on 19 October 2016.[8] On 6 January 2019, during a game against the Nashville Predators, Kotkaniemi became the third Canadiens player to score 20 points before the age of 19.[9][10] A month later on 5 February, Kotkaniemi set a new Canadiens record by becoming the first player to score goals in three straight games before the age of 19.[11] He ultimately scored 34 points in 79 games in his rookie season.
After the season concluded, Kotkaniemi underwent knee surgery to repair a chronic minor injury.[12] He scored his first goal of the 2019–20 season in Montreal's season opener, a 4–3 shootout loss against the Carolina Hurricanes.[13] However, on 5 December 2019, he suffered a concussion in a game against the Colorado Avalanche, resulting in eight games lost.[14] Kotkaniemi was reassigned to the Laval Rocket, the Canadiens' AHL affiliate, on 1 February 2020.[15]
International play[]
| Medal record | ||
|---|---|---|
Competitor for  Finland
| ||
| Ice hockey | ||
| World U18 Championships | ||
| Gold | 2018 Russia | |
| Silver | 2017 Slovakia | |
Kotkaniemi made his junior international debut for Finland at the 2017 World U18 Championships in Slovakia, he amassed 6 points in 7 games to help claim a silver medal.
He returned for the following 2018 World U18 Championships in Russia, centering the top-line in recording 9 points in 7 tournament contests, helping Finland secure the gold medal over United States. He was also recognized as a top 3 on team Finland by the IIHF.[16]
Career statistics[]
Regular season and playoffs[]
| Regular season | Playoffs | |||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Season | Team | League | GP | G | A | Pts | PIM | GP | G | A | Pts | PIM | ||
| 2015–16 | Ässät | Jr. A | 23 | 5 | 10 | 15 | 12 | — | — | — | — | — | ||
| 2016–17 | Ässät | Jr. A | 17 | 9 | 6 | 15 | 18 | 7 | 4 | 1 | 5 | 0 | ||
| 2017–18 | Ässät | Liiga | 57 | 10 | 19 | 29 | 20 | 7 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 6 | ||
| 2018–19 | Montreal Canadiens | NHL | 79 | 11 | 23 | 34 | 26 | — | — | — | — | — | ||
| 2019–20 | Montreal Canadiens | NHL | 36 | 6 | 2 | 8 | 23 | 10 | 4 | 0 | 4 | 23 | ||
| 2019–20 | Laval Rocket | AHL | 13 | 1 | 12 | 13 | 16 | — | — | — | — | — | ||
| Liiga totals | 57 | 10 | 19 | 29 | 20 | 7 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 6 | ||||
| NHL totals | 115 | 17 | 25 | 42 | 49 | 10 | 4 | 0 | 4 | 23 | ||||
International[]
| Year | Team | Event | Result | GP | G | A | Pts | PIM | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2017 | Finland | WJC18 | 
|
7 | 1 | 5 | 6 | 0 | |
| 2017 | Finland | IH18 | 6th | 4 | 2 | 2 | 4 | 6 | |
| 2018 | Finland | WJC18 | 
|
7 | 3 | 6 | 9 | 37 | |
| Junior totals | 18 | 6 | 13 | 19 | 43 | ||||
References[]
- ↑ SM-liigan 17-vuotias superlupaus onnistui heti maalinteossa (Finnish) (11 September 2017).
- ↑ "Canadiens sign Jesperi Kotkaniemi to NHL entry-level contract", 2 July 2018. Retrieved on 2 July 2018.
- ↑ Canadiens select centre Jesperi Kotkaniemi with third-overall pick (22 June 2018). Retrieved on 23 June 2018.
- ↑ Canadiens agree to terms with Jesperi Kotkaniemi (2 July 2018). Retrieved on 2 July 2018.
- ↑ Habs rookie Jesperi Kotkaniemi makes NHL history (4 October 2018). Retrieved on 5 October 2018.
- ↑ "Jesperi Kotkaniemi teki pohjoisamerikkalaista urheiluhistoriaa – pääsi myös pisteille" (in Finnish). Uusi Suomi (4 October 2018). Retrieved on 5 October 2018.
- ↑ 7.0 7.1 Washington Capitals - Montréal Canadiens - November 1st, 2018 (en-US).
- ↑ 8.0 8.1 NHL.com (2 November 2018). Facts and figures: Canadiens strike fast to make history. Domi, Armia score two seconds apart; Kotkaniemi has first two NHL goals.
- ↑ "Canadiens vs. Wild: Five things you should know", 7 January 2019. Retrieved on 9 January 2019.
- ↑ @PR_NHL (6 January 2019). Jesperi Kotkaniemi became the third player in @CanadiensMTL history to record 20+ points before celebrating his 19th birthday, joining Mario Tremblay in 1974-75 (21-18—39 in 63 GP) and Petr Svoboda in 1984-85 (3-18—21 in 49 GP). #NHLStats.
- ↑ ANA@MTL: Three for third (5 February 2019). Retrieved on 6 February 2019.
- ↑ Canadiens’ Jesperi Kotkaniemi has knee surgery in Montreal (23 April 2019). Retrieved on 23 April 2019.
- ↑ Cowan, Stu. "Canadiens settle for one point in Carolina, falling 4-3 in a shootout", Montreal Gazette, 3 October 2019.
- ↑ Habs' Kotkaniemi to return vs. Lightning following concussion (27 December 2019). Retrieved on 16 January 2020.
- ↑ Cowan, Stu. "Canadiens send Jesperi Kotkaniemi down to AHL's Laval Rocket", Montreal Gazette, 2020-02-01.
- ↑ Finland wins it all! (30 April 2018). Retrieved on 30 April 2018.
External links[]
| Awards and achievements | ||
|---|---|---|
| Preceded by Ryan Poehling |
Montreal Canadiens first round draft pick 2018 |
Succeeded by Cole Caufield |
| This page uses content from Wikipedia. The original article was at Jesperi Kotkaniemi. The list of authors can be seen in the page history. As with Ice Hockey Wiki, the text of Wikipedia is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-Share Alike License 3.0 (Unported) (CC-BY-SA). |