Quoting: MP55
I watched the canes playoffs where the offense dried up (we both have the same amount of playoff goals as Kk) and he still skates like Bambi. His ppg barely increased and he still had less goals that Jake Evans who’s going to be making $3 mil less than him. He played sheltered fourth line minutes and played on the second unit of a powerplay that finished just above the median in the regular season and disappeared in the playoffs. Sure we can sit here and debate what his potential’s gonna be - and that’d be really cool if he turns out to be a good 2C cause I really wanted him to become something in Montreal - but realistically he’ll probably take over for Staal on the third line, and was that worth 2 good draft picks and all that money. Do the Canes maybe get past the Rangers in the second if they have that money and those assets to invest at the deadline instead of wasting them on a developmental project on the fourth line from a move that screamed petty to everything that saw the headline? The canes window could close in a couple years when your 1C can hit the market after that bargain deal comes to an end (Bergy did you guys a huge favour). Does this not seem like a missed opportunity?
Carolina win that series is Andersen is healthy, but that's not the point here.
I watched a lot of KK in Montreal and he did take a step forward this year. As you said, his PPG increased (even barely) but that was playing 4th line minutes and on a powerplay that finished just above the league average. That's huge signs of progress. His skating is fine, there's no issue. He ends up on his backside a lot, but I'd rather he do that trying to play hard than not give a crap. Kotkaniemi had 1 less goal than Evans in 6 less games, and Evans didn't play 4th line minutes.
As for the Aho question, by that time the 6 million contract of Staal will be off the books, so the space will be there to extend him. Don't worry about that.
Carolina's offense has had a tendancy to run dry for years. That long predates Kotkaniemi. They need Svechnikov to take that next step and they need Aho to not sleep walk through a season again. (Yes, this was not a good season for Aho in terms of how he played. I know what the numbers say, and that's why he's so underrated). If Jarvis can take that next step, or they go and get a goalscorer, they'll be fine. But the money and assets used on KK were more than good enough. Especially when we use the same measuring stick that was that same 1st rounder and a 2nd rounder (not a 3rd, a 2nd) to get Dvorak who barely our produced Kotkaniemi having played top PP time and top 6 minutes most of the year...