The easy reaction when the Montreal Canadiens announced they would not match the Carolina Hurricanes’ offer sheet for Jesperi Kotkaniemi would be that the Canadiens failed to develop another high draft pick.
In reality, it’s a little more nuanced than that. One thing that comes up again when going through the relationship between Kotkaniemi and the Canadiens organization is timing, and impatience.
It’s a bit ironic that it worked out this way, because Bergevin was pretty measured when it came to Kotkaniemi’s immediate future at the 2018 Draft when he selected the centre.