When the Montreal Canadiens selected Jesperi Kotkaniemi third overall in the 2018 draft, the club had bet big on his long-term potential, at the expense of a player who could already make an immediate impact in the NHL, like Brady Tkachuk. Unfortunately, almost five years later, with a trade to Carolina on top of it, we have to admit that the Kotkaniemi project has not worked out in Montreal. He has great talent, but he doesn't seem to be using it to its full potential. In fact, his former Tricolore head coach, Claude Julien, decided to set the record straight recently when he appeared on BPM Sports' Comeback Show. If we often hear the excuse that the CH burned the youngster and that the club skipped too many big steps with him, it would not be the primary reason for KK's lack of success in the NHL. According to Julien, the 22-year-old forward needs to do his part to advance his career and reach his full potential. <q>Kotkaniemi can become the player he can become, if he wants to. Everyone was trying to help him, but at some point, even if you help a player, he has to help himself too. - Claude Julien</q> From what we can deduce from the former Kotkaniemi coach's words, it's the lack of hustle that prevents him from fully progressing. Basically, he's saying that even if KK had all the tools he needed to make his mark in the National League, since he's not putting in the full effort, it's not going anywhere. Julien even added to that by pointing out KK's lack of maturity. At 18, young players often have less knowledge than older players about what they need to do to develop to their full potential. <q>Sometimes it takes 2-3-4 years for a young player to become mature and know their strengths and weaknesses and work on that. Now we need Kotkaniemi to take the next step to help himself. - Claude Julien</q> As Jérémie Lussier of DansLesCoulisses.com mentions, if his situation doesn't improve, he could very well have an Alex Galchenyuk-like career; packed with talent, but without motivation. In 54 games this season, Kotkaniemi has 9 goals and 22 points. <div align='center'><blockquote class='twitter-tweet' data-lang='en'><a href='https://twitter.com/BPMSportsRadio/status/1626752142831755269?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw%7Ctwcamp%5Etweetembed%7Ctwterm%5E1626752142831755269%7Ctwgr%5Efe6d293c0a3686cc724372a698286aad1f47980a%7Ctwcon%5Es1_&ref_url=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.letsgohabs.com%2FClaude-Julien-explique-finalement-quel-etait-le-vrai-probleme-de-Jesperi-Kotkaniemi-a-Montreal-209929'> </a></blockquote></div> <div align='center'><blockquote class='twitter-tweet' data-lang='en'><a href='https://twitter.com/DLCoulisses/status/1626730634184982529?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw%7Ctwcamp%5Etweetembed%7Ctwterm%5E1626730634184982529%7Ctwgr%5Efe6d293c0a3686cc724372a698286aad1f47980a%7Ctwcon%5Es1_&ref_url=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.letsgohabs.com%2FClaude-Julien-explique-finalement-quel-etait-le-vrai-probleme-de-Jesperi-Kotkaniemi-a-Montreal-209929'> </a></blockquote></div>