Jesperi Kotkaniemi has a Stanley Cup ring from this spring. He also didn’t play a single playoff game. That’s the weird spot the Carolina Hurricanes are in with the 25-year-old forward, and it’s why his name keeps popping up in trade and buyout rumors.
But according to hockey insider Frank Seravalli, a buyout isn’t coming. Not even with a one-third buyout window open this summer. The Hurricanes are instead trying to move Kotkaniemi in a trade.
“Not expecting a buyout for Jesperi Kotkaniemi, despite last shot at 1/3rd buyout,” Seravalli reported Sunday. “To be clear, Carolina is actively seeking to trade Kotkaniemi now. With rising cap, $4.8 million for a 3C will be the new norm, so he is seen as a player with trade value considering there are so few centers available.”
Why the Hurricanes think he’s movable
The cap is going up. That’s the simple part of the math. A $4.82 million cap hit for a third-line center doesn’t look as terrible next season as it did two years ago. And with so few centers on the trade market — free agency is thin too — teams get desperate. Carolina’s front office, led by Eric Tulsky, is banking on that scarcity to find a taker.
Kotkaniemi hasn’t played an NHL game since April 14. He was a healthy scratch for every postseason game on the way to that Cup win. He managed just nine points in 42 regular season games in 2025-26. That’s bad. But he’s still 25. He was the third overall pick in 2018. And he’s got four years left on that offer sheet contract the Hurricanes famously signed him away from Montreal with in 2021.
Scouts around the league still see the tools. The hockey IQ is there. The shot is there. It just hasn’t clicked consistently in Raleigh. He’s never topped 43 points in a season. He’s never hit 20 goals. But teams talk themselves into reclamation projects all the time, especially at a premium position like center.
The buyout window closes fast
This summer is the only time Carolina could buy out Kotkaniemi at one-third of his remaining salary. After this offseason, the buyout cost jumps to two-thirds. That’s a real incentive to act now if they wanted to go that route. But Seravalli says they don’t. They’d rather wait for a trade partner.
If no deal materializes? It’s possible Kotkaniemi returns to Raleigh next season. The Hurricanes are bringing back most of their Cup-winning forward group. So what role he’d play is unclear. Fourth line? Press box? That’s a tough conversation waiting to happen.
But the front office seems willing to be patient. The cap keeps rising. The market for centers keeps tightening. They’re betting someone will call before the buyout window is even a serious consideration.
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