It’s no secret that the Carolina Hurricanes have no problem amassing a large group of Finnish players in key roles. Over the summer, they locked up franchise centre Sebastian Aho to a long-term deal. They also re-signed Finnish goaltender Antti Raanta to a one-year contract. Even their prospect pool includes many notable Finns such as Ville Koivunen, Aleksi Heimosalmi, Anttoni Honka and Tuuka Tieksola. While Raanta has provided a stable presence in net and Aho is a crucial cornerstone of this team, there are two Finns this season who needed a resurgence and are in fact driving the Carolina Hurricanes offence.
Jesperi Kotkaniemi and Teuvo Teravainen Looking from the Top Offensively in Carolina
Amongst numerous questions surrounding the Carolina Hurricanes walking into the 2023-24 season, two player-focused ones regarded Finnish forwards Jesperi Kotkaniemi and Teuvo Teravainen. Both were expected to fill big roles for Carolina and both struggled a bit last season, but with different stories. But in the early parts of this season, we are seeing a different story.
Jesperi Kotkaniemi Worth His Contract?
Kotkaniemi in 2022-23
Kotkaniemi came over to Carolina from the Montreal Canadiens in the infamous offer sheet saga. Carolina saw something they liked in Kotkaniemi and signed him to a long-term deal. The Hurricanes were looking at having a Finnish one-two punch down the middle. Kotkaniemi would fill the 2C position after Aho at 1C. This was expedited after the departure of Vincent Trocheck who previously served in that 2C role.
Last year, Kotkaniemi struggled to produce offensively for the first half of the season. He ended the season with 43 points, a career-high that included 18 goals, which was not quite where Carolina would like a 2C to be but wasn’t the worst. What was more interesting was how his season was a tale of two cities. The first half, he only had six goals and six assists from the beginning of the season to the end of 2022. But then that turned and starting in 2023, Kotkaniemi caught fire with 12 goals and 19 assists The Hurricanes were looking for Kotkaniemi to continue his hot finish from 2022-23 into 2023-24.
Kotkaniemi Staying Hot
The Hurricanes wanted Kotkaniemi to pick up where he left off…and he certainly has. After Carolina’s 4-3 overtime win over the New York Islanders, Kotkaniemi leads the team in points with 12 (five goals and seven assists). By reference, this points total has him in the top 25 in the NHL with many notable players including Jack Eichel, John Tavares and Mason McTavish having similar or the same production. Trocheck currently has five points. The majority of Kotkaniemi’s points are at 5v5 play, with only one goal and one assist on the power play. But his lone power play goal came as the game-tying goal in the third period in Carolina’s last game against the Islanders. After the team fell down 3-0, this clutch game-tying goal showed Kotkaniemi’s confidence to start the season.
Getting to the Net
On the advanced analytics side, Kotkaniemi is not really at the top of the Hurricanes in any stat but is finding a way to produce. One big difference between last season and this is Kotkaniemi’s willingness to go to the net and effectiveness there. Last year, Kotkaniemi’s average shooting distance for goals was 22.7 feet. This season, that average has dropped to 12.5 feet. His goal against the Islanders again was in tight at the net. Andrei Svechnikov fed him the puck from behind the net and he was able to roof the puck past Ilya Sorokin.
At 6′ 2″ and 201 lbs., the more that Kotkaniemi can use his size in front of the net the better. He is finding some chemistry with multiple linemates as an anchor to the Hurricanes second line. And at age 23, there is still room to grow too. But Kotkaniemi’s great start should have the Hurricanes management feeling pretty good about their investment. This also helps to settle any questions about the Hurricanes needing to find a new second-line centre.
Teuvo Teravainen Finding His Game
Carolina Hurricanes Offence Missing Teravainen in 2022-23
Teravainen struggled all year last season, albeit with some unfortunate luck. Overall, the Finnish winger only put up 12 goals and 25 assists even though the team looked at him for top-six production. This was a pretty decent fall from his previous year’s points total of 65. Between losses to family members and injury struggles, Teravainen just looked like he couldn’t find any rhythm to his game. In the playoffs, he also missed a lot of time after suffering a broken wrist early in Round One against the Islanders. With Carolina searching for improved offence and power play effectiveness this season, Teravainen finding his game was looking like a pretty important piece to the solution.
Teravainen Finding the Twine
As mentioned above, the Hurricanes rely on Teravainen to provide offensive production in the top six. After the down year last season, he was the centre of trade rumours. Many wondered if he could find his game again. So far, he has answered the bell.
Teravainen leads all Hurricanes players in goals scored with eight (with only one assist). Those eight include two on the power play and one shorthanded. This has him tied for third in goals scored in the league. This season he has spent time on the first and second lines but has been able to score goals in a multitude of situations. He scored his second career natural hat trick against the San Jose Sharks on October 27, 2023. While he has always been a fairly versatile player with a high hockey IQ and strong two-way play, Teravainen is showing one fairly underrated aspect to this game. That is his shot.
Shooting More or Shooting Better?
Rod Brind’Amour stated that the team has been wanting Teravainen to shoot more. But has he? Or is he just shooting better? For starters, he leads all Hurricanes players this year in shooting percentage with 27.59%. Last season, he finished seventh on the team at 8.33%. Of course, the sample size is much smaller so far. Not to mention he will likely fall back down to reality during the season too. But it is interesting to note. For shot generation, his CF% last season was 58.96% while this season it’s at 68.05%. This leads all Hurricanes players. In 12 games this season, he already has 29 shots. This is slightly over 20% of his total last season in 68 games.
So the answer appears to be yes to both questions. Not only is Teuvo shooting more, but he is also shooting better. His ability to score in almost any situation, as well as off the rush and in more set-up zone play, is making Teravainen a very effective offensive player for Carolina. While the story for Carolina for the last few years has been over and over that they need a true goal scorer, if that solution can come from within, that would be great. Teravainen’s conversion rate very well may come down, but he has such a quick and accurate shot that he should not stop shooting. Carolina needs it.
Main Photo Credit: Eric Hartline-USA TODAY Sports
