Canes GM addresses offer sheet to Kotkaniemi, where he'll start next season, how he'll fit under the cap

Carolina Hurricanes GM Don Waddell has addressed several questions Sunday regarding the successful offer sheet to Jesperi Kotkaniemi. The former Montreal Canadien is now a members of the Canes after agreeing to a deal for one year at $6.1 million that the Habs refused to match. As for whether the move was about revenge for the Sebastian Aho offer sheet by Montreal GM Marc Bergevin two years ago, Waddell is denying that.

"It certainly was not about revenge. To us it was all about the player," said Waddell.

"We didn't want to make an offer sheet just to make an offer sheet, we wanted to make an offer sheet to get the player."

As for the jokes on the Hurricanes' social media account and the release that referenced Aho's offer sheet, Waddell insisted that was all the PR team.

"They had some fun with it," he said.

Waddell was also asked about a possible extension for Kotkaniemi, but would only say "we'll see how things work out." He said for now, "We only talked about a one year deal."

Many wondered where Kotkaniemi fit into the Canes lineup as the team already has pretty good centre depth. Waddell explained the plan right now is for the 21-year-old to start on the left wing. That could change with injuries, but he won't be playing centre for now.

As for how Carolina will absorb the $6.1 million for Kotkaniemi and stay under the salary cap, Waddell explained that defenceman Jake Gardiner is having hip and back surgery, and will be on long-term injured reserve for possibly the entire season. That frees up over $4 million in cap space and allows the team to not have to worry about Kotkaniemi's salary.

Meanwhile, Kotkaniemi was asked about the $20 signing bonus he got from Carolina on his new deal. He joked he told his mother that he intends to give it to her as a Christmas present. He was also asked if he felt that Montreal had a lack of confidence in him after he ended up being a healthy scratch in the Stanley Cup final.

"You can say I felt the confidence from the first second from Carolina, and like I said before, that feels good," he said.

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