2016 Draft: 1st Pick: Jesse Puljujarvi

[Jepprey]

Maybe they are waiting for him to come to Edmonton in person? He hasn't come down for the orientation camp because he's still rehabbing his knee in Finland.

He was in Jasper all week with the other prospects. Even had Chia there as well. Since he wasn;t doing the workouts, Im surprised they didn't get it over with there.

 

[Vanqu1sh]

Maybe they are waiting for him to come to Edmonton in person? He hasn't come down for the orientation camp because he's still rehabbing his knee in Finland.

Did you just make that up and present it as fact? lol

 

[BB88]

Maybe they are waiting for him to come to Edmonton in person? He hasn't come down for the orientation camp because he's still rehabbing his knee in Finland.

As others have said he was there, and I saw someone write he dedicated most of his time to training there.

Saw this while reading about Juolevi,
https://www.nhl.com/news/olli-juolevi-confident-canucks-prospect/c-281142474

"For now, though, Juolevi is looking forward to getting back home to Helsinki after a long first season in North America. But it's not as if the 6-foot-3, 179-pound, left-shot defensemen is going home to rest for the summer. Juolevi plans to start working next week with a personal trainer and skating coach, part of a group of five that will include Teuvo Teravainen of the Carolina Hurricanes and Jesse Puljujarvi, who was picked one spot ahead of Joulevi in the draft by the Edmonton Oilers."

 

[ijuka]

Who actually is his trainer? I wonder who his past clients are.

 

[Replacement*]

Not sure why people are lambasting a poster for not knowing Pulju was at camp in Jasper which is a 4 hr drive From Edmonton. The papers here had said Pulju was not going to be at camp due to injury.

 

[oobga]

I wanted to show someone the part of the behind the scenes video where Poolparty's family is happy he ended up in Edmonton and kinda bashing Columbus, but looks like that part was cut from the video. Booooo!

 

[McFlyingV]

Not sure why people are lambasting a poster for not knowing Pulju was at camp in Jasper which is a 4 hr drive From Edmonton. The papers here had said Pulju was not going to be at camp due to injury.

Not that I'm one of them but there was plenty of stuff about him on the oilers site and twitter about him being in Jasper.

 

[Replacement*]

Not that I'm one of them but there was plenty of stuff about him on the oilers site and twitter about him being in Jasper.

Its summer time, its a nothing camp, the least exciting prospects camp in probably a decade and hardly anybody cares. Fact of the matter is the papers in Edmonton all got it wrong and said clearly that Pulju would not be there so its perfectly reasonable an Oiler fan wouldn't know whether Pulju was in camp or not.

 

[Jepprey]

Not that I'm one of them but there was plenty of stuff about him on the oilers site and twitter about him being in Jasper.

i only know because of oilers instagram. lol. dude has the biggest smile.

 

[Vanqu1sh]

Its summer time, its a nothing camp, the least exciting prospects camp in probably a decade and hardly anybody cares. Fact of the matter is the papers in Edmonton all got it wrong and said clearly that Pulju would not be there so its perfectly reasonable an Oiler fan wouldn't know whether Pulju was in camp or not.

Lol it doesn't matter that he's wrong but it's funny to me how he just stated something completely wrong in such a factual manner. Good proof that you shouldn't believe the first thing you read.

 

[Epoh]

Its summer time, its a nothing camp, the least exciting prospects camp in probably a decade and hardly anybody cares. Fact of the matter is the papers in Edmonton all got it wrong and said clearly that Pulju would not be there so its perfectly reasonable an Oiler fan wouldn't know whether Pulju was in camp or not.

You do realize noone is chastizing him for getting it wrong right? People should just stop believing the first thing they hear or read.

 

[Vanqu1sh]

^^ I'll just let this guy post, ROFL

 

[Epoh]

^^^
Get out of my head! Just tired of endless nitpicking and negativity, and this constant desire to be adversarial for the sake of having your voice heard and being 'edgy' or different. Not saying it's all occasions, but based on what I've read there's definitely some.

 

[Replacement*]

Lol it doesn't matter that he's wrong but it's funny to me how he just stated something completely wrong in such a factual manner. Good proof that you shouldn't believe the first thing you read.

meh, maybe I just misread it. Multiple posters telling him he's wrong on such a nothing detail seems just the kind of thing that occurs here in the summer.

Your own reply of "lol, do you just make stuff up" seemed "edgy"

 

[Jepprey]

meh, maybe I just misread it. Multiple posters telling him he's wrong on such a nothing detail seems just the kind of thing that occurs here in the summer.

Your own reply of "lol, do you just make stuff up" seemed "edgy"

yeah. nobody was "lambasting" soundwave. I just corrected him. no harm. no foul. No need to get defensive.

 

[Replacement*]

yeah. nobody was "lambasting" soundwave. I just corrected him. no harm. no foul. No need to get defensive.

Wasn't directed at your post at all and your response was completely reasonable and just informing.

 

[6God*]

Draft position aside...can it be argued that Puljujarvi is much more enticing player at 17/18 year-old player than Hall was at the same age?

We can't compare FNL/Jr stats given these guys were in completely different leagues (playing against men vs boys).

But let's look where we can compare them - the WJHC.
Hall put up 12 points in 6gp in what was a pretty dominant draft-year performance.
JP put up 17points in 7gp in dominating the tournament to the point of being named Tournament MVP.

Then there's the stuff you can't quantify statistically - the "eye test".

The only 3 advantages I see from Hall at 18 compared to JP are:
1) Speed (JP is no slouch, but Hall was a bullet)
2) Grit/Nose-down hockey (Hall crashes the net, goes to the dirty areas to score goals, JP doesn't do this as much, even with his size)
3) Familiarity with the North American game (bigger factor than we make out)

Literally EVERY other category I see JP dominating
1) Size. Nuff said
2) Shot (not even close tbh. You have a near-elite sniper in JP who can shoot from anywhere with deceptiveness, velocity, and accuracy versus the average-at-best shooter in Hall)
3) Passing (although he's improved significantly since his rookie year, Hall at 18 is nowhere near what JP is)
4) Hockey IQ (JP has arguably more at 18 than Hall does now)
5) 2-way game
6) Stickhandling

I see a much better player coming from the draft in JP than I did with Hall.

With even secondary offensive opportunities (no McDavid at ES) - I can see this guy putting up 50 points with relative ease as soon as next year.

 

[Vanqu1sh]

Draft position aside...can it be argued that Puljujarvi is much more enticing player at 17/18 year-old player than Hall was at the same age?

We can't compare FNL/Jr stats given these guys were in completely different leagues (playing against men vs boys).

But let's look where we can compare them - the WJHC.
Hall put up 12 points in 6gp in what was a pretty dominant draft-year performance.
JP put up 17points in 7gp in dominating the tournament to the point of being named Tournament MVP.

Then there's the stuff you can't quantify statistically - the "eye test".

The only 3 advantages I see from Hall at 18 compared to JP are:
1) Speed (JP is no slouch, but Hall was a bullet)
2) Grit/Nose-down hockey (Hall crashes the net, goes to the dirty areas to score goals, JP doesn't do this as much, even with his size)
3) Familiarity with the North American game (bigger factor than we make out)

Literally EVERY other category I see JP dominating
1) Size. Nuff said
2) Shot (not even close tbh. You have a near-elite sniper in JP who can shoot from anywhere with deceptiveness, velocity, and accuracy versus the average-at-best shooter in Hall)
3) Passing (although he's improved significantly since his rookie year, Hall at 18 is nowhere near what JP is)
4) Hockey IQ (JP has arguably more at 18 than Hall does now)
5) 2-way game
6) Stickhandling

I see a much better player coming from the draft in JP than I did with Hall.

With even secondary offensive opportunities (no McDavid at ES) - I can see this guy putting up 50 points with relative ease as soon as next year.

I feel like the eye-test is a better judge when watching things like WJC, too many variables for stats, whereas it's nice to see how a players skillset matches up against the other top players in a top competition.

Random comments on your assessment:

Skating - too hard for me to form an opinion on this, they're both dynamic skaters and I can't tell who's quicker with what's available to compare. I'm fine with giving it to Hall but it's close either way and hard to say it's a distinct advantage.

The NA factor is an important one - but Jesse does a play a style well suited to NA rinks at least.

Shot - many clips I've seen of Pulju actually reminded me so much of Hall. Flubbing the puck, not getting any lift on it..just a lack of consistent snipe action. But I've also seen his shot when on and it's definitely better than Hall. Anyway there is a lot of room for improvement here from Jesse IMO.

Stickhandling - Jesse mishandles the puck a lot, or at least this year he did and I've seen it a common complaint. Reminds me of Hall for that too .


It is hard to give Hall the edge in anything though really, JP is a pretty damn complete prospect. A big part of Hall's package is his motor - uncommon to find relentless players like that - and JP even matches him in that. He's got way better size and still matches him in skating. And then he's got the higher end IQ to put it all together. Prospect wise he's kind of just a bigger and smarter Hall.

Super excited to see him play.

 

[kelsier]

Draft position aside...can it be argued that Puljujarvi is much more enticing player at 17/18 year-old player than Hall was at the same age?

We can't compare FNL/Jr stats given these guys were in completely different leagues (playing against men vs boys).

But let's look where we can compare them - the WJHC.
Hall put up 12 points in 6gp in what was a pretty dominant draft-year performance.
JP put up 17points in 7gp in dominating the tournament to the point of being named Tournament MVP.

Then there's the stuff you can't quantify statistically - the "eye test".

The only 3 advantages I see from Hall at 18 compared to JP are:
1) Speed (JP is no slouch, but Hall was a bullet)
2) Grit/Nose-down hockey (Hall crashes the net, goes to the dirty areas to score goals, JP doesn't do this as much, even with his size)
3) Familiarity with the North American game (bigger factor than we make out)

Literally EVERY other category I see JP dominating
1) Size. Nuff said
2) Shot (not even close tbh. You have a near-elite sniper in JP who can shoot from anywhere with deceptiveness, velocity, and accuracy versus the average-at-best shooter in Hall)
3) Passing (although he's improved significantly since his rookie year, Hall at 18 is nowhere near what JP is)
4) Hockey IQ (JP has arguably more at 18 than Hall does now)
5) 2-way game
6) Stickhandling

I see a much better player coming from the draft in JP than I did with Hall.

With even secondary offensive opportunities (no McDavid at ES) - I can see this guy putting up 50 points with relative ease as soon as next year.

Nice post. Was wondering about the speed however. I know Hall is a bullet but so is Puljujärvi, one of the best skaters in the draft (if not the best). Didn't someone here claim that he beat Hall's skating record in an NHL All-Star game?

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=b06FkGNgGlk

I have no say in the matter cause can't remember exactly how fast Hall was in his draft season. Also it's not unheard of for Jesse to even further improve his speed. He's already superbly agile and has explosive first steps. Very unique physical speciment even when excluding the skill that comes along. Atleast we can savely say that the pace will never be an issue when pairing up McDavid and Puljujärvi. Could be the most lethal duo in the league after a couple of years.

 

[HockeyHistorian]

Nice post. Was wondering about the speed however. I know Hall is a bullet but so is Puljujärvi, one of the best skaters in the draft (if not the best). Didn't someone here claim that he beat Hall's skating record in an NHL All-Star game?

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=b06FkGNgGlk

I have no say in the matter cause can't remember exactly how fast Hall was in his draft season. Also it's not unheard of for Jesse to even further improve his speed. He's already superbly agile and has explosive first steps. Very unique physical speciment even when excluding the skill that comes along. Atleast we can savely say that the pace will never be an issue when pairing up McDavid and Puljujärvi. Could be the most lethal duo in the league after a couple of years.

Pulju and Laine competed with a different setup in a rink with different dimensions; the results are not comparable. That said, Puljujärvi can just fly out there. It might be that Hall was even faster back in the day, but I can't imagine it being by much.

 

[kelsier]

Pulju and Laine competed with a different setup in a rink with different dimensions; the results are not comparable. That said, Puljujärvi can just fly out there. It might be that Hall was even faster back in the day, but I can't imagine it being by much.

Alright thanks for clearing that up. I was actually more surprised about Laine keeping up with JP there after gearing up. Damn these kids. It's summer and finally having some sun, but all I can think about is next season and getting to watch Jets and the Oilers games!

Anyway, Jesse is barely 18. This isnt a prime Puljujärvi we are seeing. He could end up being the fastest player in the game for all we know. Add in the size & skill and stare at the skyline.

 

[snipes]

Alright thanks for clearing that up. I was actually more surprised about Laine keeping up with JP there after gearing up. Damn these kids. It's summer and finally having some sun, but all I can think about is next season and getting to watch Jets and the Oilers games!

Anyway, Jesse is barely 18. This isnt a prime Puljujärvi we are seeing. He could end up being the fastest player in the game for all we know. Add in the size & skill and stare at the skyline.

Pulju's skating is absolutely elite.

I've went back and watched all of his U-18 and U-20 footage throughout his career. I've watched his Liiga hi-lights and caught a couple of playoff games (for some reason, I played it with volume to Finnish announcers ).

When you combine his skating ability and his size, the sky is the limit. Throw in the fact that he is a right shot and it is a blessing.

Left shot centres like passing to their right winger because it is forehand to forehand. Him and McDavid will be the best C-RW combination in the NHL one day.

 

[ChicagoBullsFan]

I wanted to show someone the part of the behind the scenes video where Poolparty's family is happy he ended up in Edmonton and kinda bashing Columbus, but looks like that part was cut from the video. Booooo!

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ImvehTJSlyw
Here it is.
I'm only happy for that Jesse is Oiler now.

 

[ChicagoBullsFan]

Pulju's skating is absolutely elite.

I've went back and watched all of his U-18 and U-20 footage throughout his career. I've watched his Liiga hi-lights and caught a couple of playoff games (for some reason, I played it with volume to Finnish announcers ).

When you combine his skating ability and his size, the sky is the limit. Throw in the fact that he is a right shot and it is a blessing.

Left shot centres like passing to their right winger because it is forehand to forehand. Him and McDavid will be the best C-RW combination in the NHL one day.

How sure you are for that Pulju will play with McDavid in upcoming season.
I think Jesse isn't 100 percent shape when NHL's regular season starts in October.

And there's no need to rush him and bring him NHL immediately.
If / when Jesse isn't NHL ready let him play in AHL or one more season in Oulun Karpat.
Karpat hasn't get much new players so there's might be big role in 1st line waiting for Puljujärvi if Oilers let him play in FEL.

 

[DaJackal]

I've went back and watched all of his U-18 and U-20 footage throughout his career. I've watched his Liiga hi-lights and caught a couple of playoff games (for some reason, I played it with volume to Finnish announcers ).

Finnish announcers are great, the emotion is definitely there! (Who could forget Antero Mertaranta's call on Granlund's lacrosse goal in 2011?)



Oh, and snipes, thanks for the warm welcome to these boards! Very much appreciated.