Hurricanes buyout seems inevitable despite Stanley Cup Win.

The Carolina Hurricanes are in the middle of a huge celebration after being crowned the 2026 Stanley Cup Champions, but unfortunately for one particular Hurricane it is a celebration that will take on a very different tone.

Although he was once a highly touted young player, Hurricanes forward Jesperi Kotkaniemi hit rock bottom in his NHL career this season when his team simply chose to cast him aside as they went on a Stanley Cup playoff run that took them all the way to hockey's holy grail. Kotkaniemi was made a healthy scratch at several points during the regular season by Hurricanes head coach Rod Brind'Amour, appearing in just 42 games over the course of the regular season.

Things would only get uglier for Kotkaniemi in the Stanley Cup playoffs with Brind'Amour making it clear that he had no time for the player at all. Kotkaniemi last played on April 14th during a regular season game against the New York Islanders and never touched the puck again. Kotkaniemi wasn't even entrusted in a bottom 6 role, this is spite of the fact that he has several years remaining on his contract at a cap hit of over $4.8 million per season.

It is that contract that has made Kotkaniemi the subject of buyout speculation, speculation that may not really be speculation for much longer. NHL insider Frank Seravalli reports that, with no foreseeable path forward for a trade, it looks like Kotkaniemi will be bought out of his current contract.

"I think the one lock here is Jesperi Kotkaniemi," said Seravalli on Frankly Speaking. "Stanley Cup champion with the Carolina Hurricanes was a healthy scratch for all 19 of their playoff games."

There's good reason for Seravalli to believe that the Hurricanes will buy out Kotkaniemi. Given that he is under 26 years of age this would only be a 1/3rd buyout, which would save the Hurricanes millions against the cap and millions in real dollars as well.

While you would like to believe that a trade would be an option for Kotkaniemi, who is a former 3rd overall pick at the 2018 NHL Entry Draft, Seravalli does not believe that any team in the NHL will be willing to help the Hurricanes in this scenario.

"No one is trading for that contract, his career is at a crossroads, and he's gonna have to reboot somewhere else as a UFA," said Seravalli.

The Hurricanes will be on the hook for a cap hit of just over $850,000 for the next 8 years as a result of this buyout, but will also get a real cash savings of just under $14 million by going down this road. For a player they didn't even use during a single one of their 19 Stanley Cup playoff games that seems like a no brainer.

A low point to be sure for Kotkaniemi but hopefully one that will motivate him to bounce back even better.