Nick Suzuki shares his thoughts on the Kotkaniemi offer sheet situation
It's been just over two weeks since Jesperi Kotkaniemi signed an offer sheet with the Carolina Hurricanes for one-year worth $6.1 million, and as everyone knows, seven days later, Montreal decided not to match. With a glaring hole at the second line center position, Canadiens general manager Marc Bergevin went out and acquired Christian Dvorak roughly an hour after Kotkaniemi became a Carolina Hurricane.
During an interview with the 31 Thoughts podcast on Monday, Canadiens forward Nick Suzuki shared his thoughts on the whole situation surrounding his close friend, Jesperi Kotkaniemi.
"That's when you kinda know the NHL is strictly business and things happen. It's unfortunate that we lose KK, but we're in a good spot with [Christian] Dvorak," Suzuki said. "It's tough because he's a great friend of mine, obviously. But it is part of the business. I got to learn that pretty quickly when I got traded from Vegas."
Suzuki is entering the final season of his entry-level contract and will become an RFA in July 2022. Bergevin will more than likely lock up his young centerman to a long-term deal well before any team can tender him an offer sheet.
Nick Suzuki was enjoying family dinner at the golf course when he found out his close friend Jesperi Kotkaniemi had signed an offer sheet with the Hurricanes, but the Habs forward said it's "strictly business and things happen." (By @lukefoxjukebox) https://t.co/2y6NqzpSaT— Sportsnet (@Sportsnet) September 13, 2021
| G | A | PTS | ||
| Mikko Rantanen | 1 | 3 | 4 | |
| Jake Debrusk | 2 | 1 | 3 | |
| Dylan Guenther | 2 | 1 | 3 | |
| Ivan Barbashev | 1 | 2 | 3 | |
| Jack Eichel | 1 | 2 | 3 | |
| Brock Nelson | 1 | 2 | 3 | |
| Valeri Nichushkin | 1 | 2 | 3 | |
| Clayton Keller | - | 3 | 3 | |
| Anthony Cirelli | 2 | - | 2 | |
| Jonathan Drouin | 2 | - | 2 | |
| Roman Josi | 2 | - | 2 | |
| Kirill Marchenko | 2 | - | 2 | |
| Kyle Palmieri | 2 | - | 2 | |
| Sebastian Aho | 1 | 1 | 2 | |
| Rasmus Dahlin | 1 | 1 | 2 | |
| Leon Draisaitl | 1 | 1 | 2 | |
| Matt Duchene | 1 | 1 | 2 | |
| Samuel Girard | 1 | 1 | 2 | |
| Claude Giroux | 1 | 1 | 2 | |
| Oliver Kylington | 1 | 1 | 2 | |
| Complete stats | ||||
| STANDINGS 2024-2025 | ||||||
TOP 10 | GP | W | L | OL | PTS | |
Jets | 20 | 17 | 3 | - | 34 | |
Wild | 19 | 13 | 3 | 3 | 29 | |
Hurricanes | 19 | 14 | 5 | - | 28 | |
Devils | 22 | 13 | 7 | 2 | 28 | |
Capitals | 19 | 13 | 5 | 1 | 27 | |
Golden Knights | 20 | 12 | 6 | 2 | 26 | |
Maple Leafs | 20 | 12 | 6 | 2 | 26 | |
Rangers | 18 | 12 | 5 | 1 | 25 | |
Panthers | 20 | 12 | 7 | 1 | 25 | |
Flames | 20 | 11 | 6 | 3 | 25 | |
| Conference | Cumulative | ||||||