Imo KK should produce next year. Watching him, there were so many things to like and when he can’t centering competent line mates, he was pretty good. His shot selection was pretty good and it showed with his shooting percentage. He also didn’t perform abysmally imo given his numbers and his linemates. Jfresh’s model for KK doesn’t paint him in the best light but shows he has two way center potential. It shows KK improved his all around game yet foundered offensively and with the 12% with teammates shows he was really being held back. His three main linemates were martinook, Lorentz, and stepan. The highest war percentile between those 3 was 21%. With KK being over double that, I can see him breaking out this coming season with 60+ points. The eye test also backs up this claim as well because it was frustrating to see KK make solid passes and then being screwed by his teammates. He just wasn’t fit for that role as a player as his linemates didn’t mirror or synergize with KKs style. I genuinely believe KK could go PPG this season if he is playing with good linemates all season. That’s being hopeful but I think he could be a very very good 2C this year.

Images didn’t work, just look it up if you want to see it.

"he had quite the abysmal season"

Bro what? His points per 60 was right there with guys like Nathan MacKinnon and Brayden Point... his defensive numbers were better than Tkachuk. His offensive underlying numbers were solid too. If you think KK had "quite the abysmal season" you did not watch a single minute of Canes hockey, or even bother to look at the stats before saying that. Get outta here. No offense, but that is a joke.

Don't know why you say Canes are 2m over the cap when Patches comes back. Carolina will be hit with prorated cap for games he plays, not 7m if plays just 10 games.

KK did not have an abysmal season. Point totals don’t tell the full story. Actually, he had a higher points/60 than Trocheck and Necas

All the other points about KK have been mentioned, but there was a very clear reason why KK was playing 4C the entire year. The first reason was to transition him over to the Canes style of play and get him accustomed to that. Besides, KK was on pace to break his best point total in Montreal whilst playing 4th line minutes with players like Martinook, Lorentz, and Stepan, not exactly offensive dynamos there, plus being utilized in an energy line role. And if my numbers are correct, when KK was given his time in the top 6 during the Covid stretch, he had a 1.5PPG pace. KK had anything but an abysmal season, and he is ready for the 2C role. And while I will agree that a lot hangs in the balance with KK breaking out this season, you can’t go and say he had an abysmal season, just by looking at point totals. KK might not have lit the lamp a lot, but some of his underlying numbers were some of the best in the league.