Sebastian Aho thought Canes trolling of Habs during Kotkaniemi offer sheet was 'pretty funny'
Sebastian Aho of the Carolina Hurricanes, who once signed an offer sheet from the Montreal Canadiens, was amused by the whole Jesperi Kotkaniemi offer sheet trolling by his team. He felt the $20 signing bonus, 20 being his own number, was especially funny.
"To be honest, it's pretty funny to see a $20 signing bonus," Aho said at the NHL Player Media Tour. "All jokes aside, we got a pretty good player."
Aho said he and Kotkaniemi, both from Finland, talked on the phone during the offer sheet process and he gave his new teammate advice on restaurants and real estate in the area.
"We talked about general stuff. Trying to help him with some of the small things," Aho said.
As for the offer sheet itself, which worked in Carolina's favour, Aho said it's a good thing for the game.
"It got people talking. I think it's going to be a good thing. It's going to be fun playing them next year," Aho said. "It's part of the business. The social media is so huge these days. You don't have to play a game and you already have a buzz."
After deciding to match Aho's offer sheet from the Canadiens in 2019, the Hurricanes tendered one to Kotkaniemi for a one-year deal worth $6.1 million. Canes owner Tom Dundon insisted it wasn't about revenge, but added it likely wouldn't have happened if it hadn't been for the Aho offer sheet. Carolina's Twitter account went on a trolling rampage the day the offer sheet was tendered to Kotkaniemi, announcing the offer in French and Tweeting out the UNO reverse card, among other things.
| G | A | PTS | ||
| Brandon Hagel | - | 5 | 5 | |
| Sebastian Aho | 1 | 3 | 4 | |
| Nico Hischier | 3 | - | 3 | |
| Macklin Celebrini | 2 | 1 | 3 | |
| Jakob Chychrun | 1 | 2 | 3 | |
| Seth Jarvis | 1 | 2 | 3 | |
| Nikita Kucherov | 1 | 2 | 3 | |
| Zachary Bolduc | 2 | - | 2 | |
| Will Cuylle | 2 | - | 2 | |
| Lars Eller | 2 | - | 2 | |
| Jake Guentzel | 2 | - | 2 | |
| Alex Iafallo | 2 | - | 2 | |
| Ivan Ivan | 2 | - | 2 | |
| Ivan Barbashev | 1 | 1 | 2 | |
| Drake Batherson | 1 | 1 | 2 | |
| Simon Edvinsson | 1 | 1 | 2 | |
| Jack Eichel | 1 | 1 | 2 | |
| Morgan Frost | 1 | 1 | 2 | |
| Shayne Gostisbehere | 1 | 1 | 2 | |
| Miro Heiskanen | 1 | 1 | 2 | |
| Complete stats | ||||
| STANDINGS 2024-2025 | ||||||
TOP 10 | GP | W | L | OL | PTS | |
Jets | 22 | 18 | 4 | - | 36 | |
Devils | 24 | 15 | 7 | 2 | 32 | |
Hurricanes | 21 | 15 | 5 | 1 | 31 | |
Wild | 21 | 13 | 4 | 4 | 30 | |
Golden Knights | 22 | 14 | 6 | 2 | 30 | |
Capitals | 21 | 14 | 6 | 1 | 29 | |
Maple Leafs | 21 | 13 | 6 | 2 | 28 | |
Flames | 22 | 12 | 7 | 3 | 27 | |
Stars | 20 | 13 | 7 | - | 26 | |
Rangers | 20 | 12 | 7 | 1 | 25 | |
| Conference | Cumulative | ||||||