Saturday night against the Columbus Blue Jackets was perhaps the toughest game of the season for Carolina Hurricanes center Jesperi Kotkaniemi.

The Finn went 1-for-9 in the faceoff dot (11%), was buried at 5v5 with just a 25 CF% (his third worst total in the last three seasons) and had a lot of responsibility in two of the goals against that night as he missed a hit on Dante Fabbro, setting up a 2-on-1 and then turned the puck over at the offensive blueline to Kirill Marchenko for a breakaway.

"We just gave them two goals to start the game," said Hurricanes coach Rod Brind'Amour after the game. "We just turned the puck over. You go nose-to-nose on a defenseman? you just can't do that. Just giving breakaways out of the o-zone? That's what kills you."

Following those goals against, Kotkaniemi saw his minutes slashed and he was separated from Martin Necas for really the first time all season.

Kotkaniemi had been the team's second line center since the start of the year and had been playing alongside Necas, who has had a breakout season sitting third in the league with 33 points, that whole time too.

The Finnish center had been doing fairly well there though (at least according to the stat sheet) with himself having two goals and 11 points in 19 games, all at even strength, and his line outscoring opponents 15-9.

But it seems like Brind'Amour needed to see something different as Jack Drury got the bump up for the remainder of the game, a situation all too familiar to last season.

And it seems like that change will be sticking at least for a little bit though because at Monday's morning skate before the team's game against the Dallas Stars, Kotkaniemi was still centering Eric Robinson and Jackson Blake and Drury was centering Necas and Seth Jarvis.

Related: Carolina Hurricanes vs. Dallas Stars: Lineups, Game Preview and How to Watch

When asked about Kotkaniemi's play and the resulting demotion to the fourth line, Brind'Amour didn't seem all too happy with the question.

"Where are you guys getting this stuff? Demoted to the fourth line?" Brind'Amour responded. "I don't number my lines like that. Just check the minutes after the game, that's how you should be monitoring who's playing or not playing."

Well if we go by that, Kotkaniemi played the second fewest minutes on the team (9:36) behind only Tyson Jost (7:43).

Seems like a demotion to me and that seems to be a change that Brind'Amour will be keeping whether he wants to discuss it or not.

It's understandable though for a coach to want to protect his players and this isn't the first time Brind'Amour has done/said similar things when the media has asked about other struggling players.

And hey, who knows, perhaps Kotkaniemi finds his way back there because Brind'Amour also said that the Canes will potentially be moving pieces around the lineup now that Jarvis has returned from injury as they try to find his best spot.

Regardless, it's still pretty notable when the center who was playing alongside your best player all season has now changed.