The Toronto Maple Leafs have hired a new European scout and he’s not some average overseas hockey mind, either. He’s the father of a current and fairly good NHL centerman.
Announced by the person himself earlier this week, the Leafs have hired Mikael Kotkaniemi, the father of Carolina Hurricanes center Jesperi Kotkaniemi, as a scout.
“I’m excited to share that as of August 1, 2025, I have joined the Toronto Maple Leafs as a European Scout, with responsibility for the entire continent,” Kotkaniemi wrote on LinkedIn.
“It’s a real privilege to become part of such a storied organization—one that inspires so much passion and emotion among fans around the world. I’m looking forward to contributing to the Leafs’ future success.”
Kotkaniemi isn’t just someone with familial ties to the NHL, but he himself is a fairly clear hockey mind. After playing several seasons in the Finnish Liiga and officially hanging up his skates in 1999 – just a year before Jesperi was born, it turns out – Mikael was hired to be an assistant coach for Finnish club Ässät’s U20 team in 2006. He was on that bench for three seasons before becoming the head coach of the U18 team; taking a step down a level but running his own team.
Just two short seasons after that and he was brought up to the first team. In 2011, Kotkaniemi was promoted up to the assistant coach role on Ässät’s team in the Liiga. He was there for two years and after some seasons elsewhere, he was brought back as an interim head coach in the Finnish top division. He spent a few more years in that top assistant role – and taking over as an interim once more before eventually being replaced himself in 2018.
After some more head coaching jobs, he moved to the international stage where he served as head coach for the Finland U17 national team for the 2023-24 season and moving up to the U18 junior national team the following year.
And now, well, he’s joining the Maple Leafs for both his first scouting job and first position in an NHL organization