News Article: A Lesson in Patience | Jesse Puljujarvi

[TopShelfGloveSide]

Lol yep their progression has almost been identical

 

[FlameChampion]

Lol yep their progression has almost been identicalView attachment 227351

lol

 

[BudBundy]

Lol yep their progression has almost been identicalView attachment 227351

Hard to see the pictures of Pavelski, Couture, and Thornton linemates versus Strome, Spooner, and Lucic in year 3 on that graph.

 

[TopShelfGloveSide]

Hard to see the pictures of Pavelski, Couture, and Thornton linemates versus Strome, Spooner, and Lucic in year 3 on that graph.

If he had progression like Meiers did then he probably wouldn't have had those linemates.

Edit : Also that’s not the point. The point is they haven’t been similar.

 

[McDNicks17]

Hard to see the pictures of Pavelski, Couture, and Thornton linemates versus Strome, Spooner, and Lucic in year 3 on that graph.

Pulju was a few minutes shy of playing half of his minutes last season with RNH.

He played nearly three times more with RNH than he did Strome and Spooner combined.

This stupid "only played on the 4th line with scrubs" narrative needs to die.

 

[BudBundy]

If he had progression like Meiers did then he probably wouldn't have had those linemates.

Edit : Also that’s not the point. The point is they haven’t been similar.

Context matters, is my point.

Look, Jesse may turn out to be a bust. That part of the story is yet to be written and it will entirely hinge upon whether or not Jesse can think the game well enough. I personally think given his tools, he can make himself into a useful player.

What mystifies me is that everyone agrees that he was horribly handled. Ray Ferraro lambasted the organization for it in very specific ways. We also know Jesse’s potential is still intriguing, we certainly know our depth of speed, size and talent on the wings is paper-thin, and we know his trade value is very low. Yet knowing all this, many otherwise intelligent posters want him dumped, as soon as possible, damn the torpedoes. Why????

I’ve seen enough of the Oilers mangle prospects. I’ve seen enough of the Oilers selling low only to watch assets flourish elsewhere. I’ve also seen enough flashes of brilliance from Jesse that I am willing to keep backing this kid. We’ll know soon enough. In the mean time, I’ll just quietly keep preaching and praying for patience.

 

[Fourier]

Pulju was a few minutes shy of playing half of his minutes last season with RNH.

He played nearly three times more with RNH than he did Strome and Spooner combined.

This stupid "only played on the 4th line with scrubs" narrative needs to die.

On the other hand he also produced at a decent rate with RNH. His 1.49 pts/60 would translate into about 28 5 vs 5 points over a typical season. It's not great but is also quite reasonable for a guy his age. And with McDavid his number were even better at 1.8 pts/60. In fact over the three years he has been an Oiler he had 2.06 pts/60 with McDavid in a little over 400 minutes. That's solid top 6 numbers.

 

[bobbythebrain]

no, Calgary did not.
Bennett has always been used in a 3rd line checking role.
And no, I don't see that JP was given top 6 minutes - only a few shifts on top line and right back to 3rd 4th line

Wrong and wrong

 

[MessierII]

On the other hand he also produced at a decent rate with RNH. His 1.49 pts/60 would translate into about 28 5 vs 5 points over a typical season. It's not great but is also quite reasonable for a guy his age. And with McDavid his number were even better at 1.8 pts/60. In fact over the three years he has been an Oiler he had 2.06 pts/60 with McDavid in a little over 400 minutes. That's solid top 6 numbers.

I’m not a big per 60 guy. Production doesn’t just stay equal the more minutes you play. These small samples skew the numbers.

 

[PaPaDee]

LOL
Who is he taking a spot away from, Yamamoto or Rattle?
New coach should just play the stink outta JP on the top 2 lines. Not much else going on for RW options

If a player wants a spot in this roster, they should be able to bring something to the table. Im tired of trying to develop players at the NHL level.

 

[Panda Bear]

Jesse should be a very, very good player. While he would need a huge current of fortune in his favour, he still has it in him to be a Hossa-lite with a bigger shot.

When we took him in the draft, he could do everything at an 8/10 level or better for a prospect. He transported the puck from one end to another with speed and control. He had an amorphous role on any line where he could be a playmaker getting the puck backdoor, a tenacious forechecker, a sniper with a heavy one-time option, and a power forward crashing the net. He even had the awareness to defend effectively in his own zone.

Unfortunately, Jesse is a Finnish country bumpkin (I say this with a dose of affection) and he had huge difficulties transitioning to the NHL with the Oilers. I firmly believe that our management and player personnel failed him. His agent did him no favours in convincing him that he needed to be in the NHL immediately. Finally, Jesse to date has not shown the mental resiliency to overcome his crisis in confidence.

We're in a bad situation with him. I hope that Holland is able to sort out an effective plan to bring out the best in him for us going forward, but Puljujarvi is currently circling the drain.

 

[Panda Bear]

On a different note, I think I figured out why Puljujarvi tends to crowd the puck carrier (to no end of frustration for McDavid, Draisaitl and Nuge).

Puljujarvi is almost always to their right when this happens, which means he is on his forehand. If you're close to a puck carrier, you provide opportunities for four plays: 1) you can receive a bump pass; 2) the carrier can leave the puck for you so that you can cross over with it to flatfoot the defender; 3) the carrier can play a give-and-go with you; and 4) you can retrieve the puck if it's dumped in more quickly than you could if you were further away.

But all three of those guys are such good puck handlers that they don't need this kind of support, which Jesse defaults to. So instead of Puljujarvi participating in the play, he's just...there limiting their space.

 

[Panda Bear]

"But pros should be able to adapt."

Yeah, they should. It's a lot easier to adapt when you're one of two things: a) successful and want to add another dimension to your game (e.g. Crosby becoming great at deflections); or b) aware that your skills aren't good enough for your play style to succeed, so you change your game to survive at that level (e.g. Reasoner transforming from a playmaker into a grinder).

If your confidence is shot, you try to do the things that made you successful in the first place because you think that's how you will succeed again.

 

[oobga]

So hard to judge what we have with Pulju now, especially with some pretty serious hip surgery just happening. I will trust Holland's handling of the kid though, more than I trusted Chia and past coaches. If this kid has what it takes, he will likely be on the roster next year and given a chance to prove it. The Meier comparison is a tough one to make. Just in general though, if Pulju does manage to turn things around in the next couple seasons, he will not be doing something unheard of. Lots of good prospects took until they were 22/23 to finally figure out how to play in this league.

 

[Soundwave]

I will say this ... if he's back and he's still struggling with English and getting into situations like not being able to be on the PP because he can't understand what the coach wants ... it will be very telling.

Dude has had 4 years now to learn basic English, and while I know learning a new language is not easy ... 4 years ... c'mon. For a career that could yield him millions of dollars, he should be spending a lot of time learning and improving by now. Millions of people learn basic English every year without needing a huge paying career to motivate them.

 

[bobbythebrain]

I will say this ... if he's back and he's still struggling with English and getting into situations like not being able to be on the PP because he can't understand what the coach wants ... it will be very telling.

Dude has had 4 years now to learn basic English, and while I know learning a new language is not easy ... 4 years ... c'mon. For a career that could yield him millions of dollars, he should be spending a lot of time learning and improving by now. Millions of people learn basic English every year without needing a huge paying career to motivate them.

But it's the Oilers fault for not sending a live in tutor to Finland

 

[Soundwave]

But it's the Oilers fault for not sending a live in tutor to Finland

It is on them for not doing it 4 years ago, that was stupid and it clearly has shown in stunted development. But at this point, 4 years in, Jesse needs to long have learned, the Oilers are idiots at developing young players and the he needed to long since take over the process of learning English.

Hitchcock trying to put him on the PP and bailing out on the idea because Jesse couldn't understand what was going on last season is unacceptable.

The Oilers are too incompetent to do you any favors kid, you need to get on this. He should have spent a lot of time this summer improving his English, if he has not, it will say a lot.

 

[Perfect_Drug]

I honestly think we need to calculate the best time, and push him through waivers and pray he doesn't get claimed.

He needs a year in the minors. And I doubt another team will play him all 82 games next season.

 

[McShogun99]

I honestly think we need to calculate the best time, and push him through waivers and pray he doesn't get claimed.

He needs a year in the minors. And I doubt another team will play him all 82 games next season.

If he went on waivers the team with the first waiver claim would move heaven and earth to claim him. You pencil him in for the third line to start the season and let him play his way up or down the lineup. I'm predicting a good year for him next season. I think being injury free and playing under Holland (who will hire a coach with his vision), who likes the Euro style game more will help him.

 

[bobbythebrain]

It is on them for not doing it 4 years ago, that was stupid and it clearly has shown in stunted development. But at this point, 4 years in, Jesse needs to long have learned, the Oilers are idiots at developing young players and the he needed to long since take over the process of learning English.

Hitchcock trying to put him on the PP and bailing out on the idea because Jesse couldn't understand what was going on last season is unacceptable.

The Oilers are too incompetent to do you any favors kid, you need to get on this. He should have spent a lot of time this summer improving his English, if he has not, it will say a lot.

Not how it works. NHLPA is a strong organization. Players are paid per game. Then there are training camps and such.

However, the organization cannot force players to do things on their time off, as in the summer. They can only suggest.

If JP didnt work on his English...that's on him. It is the most naive stance IMO to believe this wasn't mentioned to him. We definitely know it was in year 2

 

[BlackDogg]

Somehow JP got worse every season. Hoping with new hips he’ll turn I tom that first liner we were expecting.

Trade him for Shakira.

 

[Aerrol]

It is on them for not doing it 4 years ago, that was stupid and it clearly has shown in stunted development. But at this point, 4 years in, Jesse needs to long have learned, the Oilers are idiots at developing young players and the he needed to long since take over the process of learning English.

Hitchcock trying to put him on the PP and bailing out on the idea because Jesse couldn't understand what was going on last season is unacceptable.

The Oilers are too incompetent to do you any favors kid, you need to get on this. He should have spent a lot of time this summer improving his English, if he has not, it will say a lot.

This is where I'm at too, and why I'm open to trading him. I will remain adamant that the Oilers developed Pulju terribly and probably prevented him from reaching his true potential, but at the same time, he has to know what's going on by now. Can he turn it around? I don't have a lot of faith he will here. We should just move on unless there's some special relationship between him and the new coach.

 

[OilerTitanFan]

JP has to be one of the most polarizing players I've seen on this board, right up there with Yakupov.

You either love him, and want him to succeed either here or elsewhere, or absolutely hate him and think he needs to be traded for a 7th just to get some sort of value.

Any thread involving him is going to be a clash of stubborn people with no interest in hearing the other side out, or considering other opinions.

It's funny really. I think of message boards of places to discuss things with others, form opinions, debate opinions, etc. A place for those with open minds to take in different ideas and see things from a different side, but instead they turn into "pick a side and defend it no matter what evidence the other side presents, and if you're caught changing your opinion at a later date, I'll find a post from before and publicly shame you for it,"

I don't think we really know what we've got in JP yet. It's possible that a growth spurt after his draft year may have affected him. I've seen kids being really good, then suddenly have a growth spurt and took almost a full season to adjust to the spurt. It might be tougher for JP just because of his age.

I don't love him or hate him. But I do think we should all be a bit more patient to see if he turns into another Yakupov or the next Rantanen. He has to start delivering the mail this upcoming season or fans here on this board will run him out of town. This year has to be a show me what you got year. I'm willing to ignore what has transpired the past few seasons and give him the benefit of the doubt. I think many fans here should wait and see rather than sending him off for a 7th round pick. This team's success hinges on a lot of our prospects panning out. If JP, Yamamoto and Bouchard all become busts, we are pretty much done for the next decade. We need at least one of them coming through.

 

[Tyrolean]

JP has to be one of the most polarizing players I've seen on this board, right up there with Yakupov.

You either love him, and want him to succeed either here or elsewhere, or absolutely hate him and think he needs to be traded for a 7th just to get some sort of value.

Any thread involving him is going to be a clash of stubborn people with no interest in hearing the other side out, or considering other opinions.

It's funny really. I think of message boards of places to discuss things with others, form opinions, debate opinions, etc. A place for those with open minds to take in different ideas and see things from a different side, but instead they turn into "pick a side and defend it no matter what evidence the other side presents, and if you're caught changing your opinion at a later date, I'll find a post from before and publicly shame you for it,"

Message boards have too much noise to be taken seriously. Be better if they moderate it more strictly.

 

[Oilhawks]

Holland will want to evaluate JP for a year before he makes a decision - as he should. Hopefully JP's able to put the injury and whatever else has hampered his development behind him and look like a top 9 player again. Even if he ends up being a third line winger in the next year or two, that's better than trading him for nothing.

Fingers crossed he can figure it out and put it all together.