The Carolina Hurricanes are Stanley Cup champions for the first time in two decades. You’d think the locker room would be all smiles. But even as the confetti settles and the engravers prep the names, front-office decisions are already grinding forward — and one of them involves a 25-year-old former top-three pick who never touched the ice during the title run.
Jesperi Kotkaniemi has a ring coming. He played 42 regular-season games, enough to qualify for his name on the Cup. But in the postseason? He was a healthy scratch for all 19 games. That’s the kind of detail that turns a celebration into a business conversation.
According to Frank Seravalli of Hockey247, the Hurricanes are likely to buy out Kotkaniemi’s contract this offseason. It’s a move that has been building for months, as the Finnish center failed to carve out a consistent role under head coach Rod Brind’Amour.
The Contract That Won’t Go Away
Kotkaniemi signed an offer sheet with Carolina back in 2021 — a poison-pill deal the Montreal Canadiens chose not to match. At the time, it felt like a clever swipe at a division rival. Eight years, $4.82 million per season. The Hurricanes believed they were getting a young center with untapped offensive upside.
That upside never fully arrived. Kotkaniemi’s best season in Carolina came in 2022–23, when he posted 43 points. This past season, he managed just nine points in 42 games. His ice time dipped. His confidence seemed to follow. By the playoffs, he wasn’t even in the conversation.
“He was quality insurance depth to hold in case of injury, but no one is trading for his contract now,” Seravalli wrote.
Why the Buyout Makes Sense
Because Kotkaniemi is still 25, the Hurricanes can buy him out at one-third of the remaining value, spread over twice the length of the deal. That saves Carolina roughly $13 million in real cash. The cap hit would be small — less than a minimum salary — but it would linger for eight seasons.
Eight years is a long time to carry a ghost charge on the cap. But for a team that just won a Cup and will face tightening budgets as it tries to repeat, clearing $13 million in actual money might be worth the long tail.
The team has not confirmed the move. Buyout windows open after the Stanley Cup Final, so this is still speculation. But the logic is hard to argue with: Kotkaniemi was the third overall pick in 2018, and now he’s a healthy scratch on a championship team. That’s not a growth trajectory. That’s a dead end.
What Happens Next
If the buyout goes through, Kotkaniemi becomes an unrestricted free agent — a reclamation project for a team willing to bet on his age and raw skill. For Carolina, it’s a tough footnote to a dream season. They won it all, but they also have to admit that one of their biggest investments never paid off.
The Cup parade will be joyful. The roster reshuffling will be ruthless. That’s the NHL.
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