Exactly one million years ago, the Montreal Canadiens broke omertà when they made an offer sheet for Carolina Hurricanes forward Sebastian Aho. Aho stuck with the Canes, but the Canes did not forget the transgression.
On Saturday afternoon, the Canes made an offer sheet for Canadiens forward Jesperi Kotkaniemi.
Ooh yasss, this is petty. We love it.
From the Canes:
Don Waddell, President and General Manager of the National Hockey League’s Carolina Hurricanes, today announced that the team has tendered an offer sheet to restricted free agent forward Jesperi Kotkaniemi. The one-year contract, which Kotkaniemi has signed, pays a salary of $6,100,015 for the 2021-22 season and carries a $20 signing bonus. The Montreal Canadiens have seven days to match the offer. If the Canadiens do not match the offer, they will receive a first-round pick and a third-round pick in the 2022 NHL Draft as compensation from the Hurricanes.
Yes, that is a twenty dollar signing bonus, just a fraction above what Kotkaniemi’s qualifying offer is worth.
Kotkaniemi, 21, scored five goals and fifteen assists in 56 games last season, the final year of his entry-level contract.
The offer sheet could be seen as revenge for Habs attempting to snatch Aho from the Canes a few years ago. And by “could be seen”, I mean, yeah, it definitely is revenge.
Here is a tweet from the Habs in 2019.
”Sebastian Aho accepted our offer. He wants to come to Montreal. He sees our youngsters coming up in the organization and he wants to be a part of that. We’re proud, but there’s still a waiting period.” – Marc Bergevin #GoHabsGo
— Canadiens Montréal (@CanadiensMTL) July 1, 2019
And here is a quote from the Canes press release:
“Jesperi Kotkaniemi accepted our offer. He wants to come to Carolina,” said Waddell. “He sees the core we’ve built here and he wants to be a part of that. We’re proud, but there’s still a waiting period.”
bortaS bIr jablu’DI’ reH QaQqu’ nay’
Headline photo: Veikkaus/Creative Commons
