3 Trade Destinations For Hurricanes' Kotkaniemi

The Carolina Hurricanes don't need the cap space and also don't have an immediate upgrade at the ready if they were to move Jesperi Kotkaniemi, but it is a move that the team would be happier making than not before his contract expires. The 25-year-old has five years left on his deal at $4.82 million AAV and has no trade protection until next year. While it is a lot of years to commit to a questionable player like this, some teams might just be desperate enough that they are willing to take the chance on a former third overall pick who could need a change in scenery himself. These are three teams who would likely be in the mix if a Kotkaniemi trade happens.

Vancouver Canucks

The Vancouver Canucks traded J.T. Miller last season due to issues in the room or the team would be fine at center. Now, even while getting Filip Chytil as part of the return, they lost Pius Suter and are very weak down the middle. His career highs are only 18 goals and 43 points and he settles in as a middle-6 center, but that would work well with Chytil also being a questionable second or third line center. Maybe one of them steps up and becomes what the Canucks need. They cleared some cap space by trading Dakota Joshua, so a move should be coming.

Boston Bruins

The Boston Bruins may be the weakest team at center in the entire league with Elias Lindholm, Casey Mittelstadt/Pavel Zacha, Sean Kuraly/Matthew Poitras, and John Beecher. They have multiple options, but one isn't clearly better than the other in each situation. The team is in a transitional period and they can't rebuild with players like David Pastrnak, Charlie McAvoy, and Jeremy Swayman. They need help, and a centerman would help. Kotkaniemi wouldn't be their first choice, but he would be a cheaper and readily available one. Again, I stress that he could use a change in scenery and Boston could provide a different look that helps him break out.

San Jose Sharks

The San Jose Sharks have a lot of cap space and their bottom-6 is scary bad. They need any help they can get and Kotkaniemi could settle into a third line center role without pressure of moving up since the team has Macklin Celebrini and Will Smith. Kotkaniemi is younger, which fits with the Sharks, and he would be an upgrade to anyone who are current options for the bottom-6, which include Barclay Goodrow, Jeff Skinner, Philipp Kurashev, Ryan Reaves, Zack Ostapchuk, Ty Dellandrea, Collin Graf, or Carl Grundstrom. The Sharks projections also have Alex Wennberg and Adam Gaudette slotted higher than they should as both should be on the third line at the highest. This could open a spot for Kotkniemi to play on the wing on the second line too. Maybe that would do him good.

The Hurricanes have options and I don't think Kotkaniemi is making it to the end of his contract. If they can, now would be a decent time to move on from him.