Is Puljujarvi a bust?

[Puck Dogg]

Puljujarvi looks he'll be somewhere between Yakupov and Paajarvi. I don't think he has enough hockey IQ to make it as top six player in the NHL.

 

[Anomie2029]

He shouldn't be, but the Oilers do have a tendency to destroy prospects.

 

[BullLund]

wrong, it was always Aho clicking both. Actually it's Aho clicking everything everywhere

Pulju ultimately was never really that good except when Aho was carrying him. And Aho has one of the highest "hockey IQs" out of all recent prospects, so he definitely compensated for Pulju's lack of it.

Atleast Laine has had accomplishments beyond just playing with Aho. He has the shot, I'm not sure what Pulju has to offer at this point. Bottom 6 hustle, maybe? He can't score goals and he can't make plays, but I suppose he's still good for skating from one end of the ice to the other.

 

[winnipegger]

He might have Yakupov syndrome, also known as Oileritis. It is terminal.

 

[Pyrophorus]

A bit early, but his team can't develop

 

[Akustiikka]

Well Kasperi Kapanen made his breakthrough just this year at age of 22, and Im not sure he is the smartest player out there either. I would not count Pulju out yet.

But will he be top something player? No he wont, but with some luck he could be another Kasperi Kapanen with slightly different atributes, if he works hard enough.

 

[Chuck Norris Trophy]

Everyone in Finland except his fanboys knew that his style doesn't suit the NHL. He is dumb as a rock, has none IQ, hockey or otherwise. He might make it in some other league but in NHL never.

 

[Fixxer]

He might have Yakupov syndrome, also known as Oileritis. It is terminal.

I thought his #98 would eventually be retired next to Gretzky #99 and McDavid #97

 

[NotCommitted]

I wouldn't count out a 20-year old with the tools Pulju has, but it's not looking too good at the moment and I'm starting to lose faith he'll ever make it in the Oilers. He has been mishandled from day 1, but he also has to look in the mirror. He had a good draft season and while he was one of the top prospects in the world at his age class, against adult professionals he was closer to 0.5ppg than over 1 ppg player in Liiga. It's a tough league to score in I think, but it's completely unrealistic to expect that kind of player to just jump over to NHL and start producing in a top-6 role. I think Pulju has had unrealistic expectations of himself, though he has also said a lot of right things in interviews. It's hard to judge. I don't think for a moment he's "arrogant", but he also might not have a very clear idea of his strengths and weaknesses as a hockey player.

His usage/"development" has been horrible in the Oilers. The have been sitting him in the PB way too much and he averages well under 12 min TOI / game and it's been like this for the 3rd season now. Also practically no PP time whatsoever, even though the Oilers PP has always lacked shooters and Puljujärvi actually has a pretty good shot and is right handed which would fit perfectly. If you want a top-6 player you play them like one and if you can't do that in the NHL then you send them down and when you bring them up, you give them good opportunity & PP time to see if they can carry over their top-6 play from AHL.

At this point it might be he is in fact a bottom-6 player, but they might have a hard time selling him that, especially after they never really used / developed him like they wanted a top-6 piece out of him. There are a lot of examples of guys who came in as top-6 prospects but ended up reinventing their game to become very good bottom-6 guys, nothing wrong in that. But if Pulju feels/thinks/wants to be a top-6 guy, there's nothing wrong in that either. It just might be NHL is not the place for him to be that. But like I said right at the beginning, he's only 20, has the tools and he could turn it around and still become a 1st-line winger, even in the Oilers, though I'm starting to get the feeling he won't ever break out in the Oilers.

 

[TDotMassive]

Well Kasperi Kapanen made his breakthrough just this year at age of 22, and Im not sure he is the smartest player out there either. I would not count Pulju out yet.

But will he be top something player? No he wont, but with some luck he could be another Kasperi Kapanen with slightly different atributes, if he works hard enough.

Dude anyone watching Kappy could see it was coming even last year, even the year before... he had sick skills, just had to put it all together, and Leafs are super patient developing talent... but it was evident for a couple years now he was going to explode at some point.

 

[GeeoffBrown]

It looks like he's about to be traded and I'd like to see what he does for his new squad before labeling him a bust.

See: Justin Schultz, Devin Dubnyk

 

[McVespa99]

Nobody is really a bust at 20 but the Oilers have certainly done an extremely poor job dveloping him. He should have been in the minors for the last 2 years. So far he has not shown any real progress since he was 18. The Oilers have also backed themselves into a corner because they have left the situation so long that he will soon be waiver eligible so they wont be able to try to make up for past mistakes. Is it too late? Maybe.
The flip side of the coin is big players often take much longer to develop. I remember Keith Primeau looked like a bust but eventually he learned he would not make it in the Nhl based on size and strength alone.
So the OP's question is very premature but he is trending in that direction. Realistically he has 2 or 3 more years before you can truly call him a bust.

 

[CauZuki]

It looks like he's about to be traded and I'd like to see what he does for his new squad before labeling him a bust.

See: Justin Schultz, Devin Dubnyk

Jeff Petry (although older) was also saved by being traded away from Edmonton. Turned into a very solid top 4 RHD.

 

[Agent Zub]

Jeff Petry (although older) was also saved by being traded away from Edmonton. Turned into a very solid top 4 RHD.

He was good in Edmonton too.

 

[OVO16]

Puljujarvi is a poor man's Alex Chiasson

 

[Mr Papagoergyo]

No, edmontons a bust he just happens to be there, they just continue to not bother with there prospects.
At some point I can see drafted player(s) pulling a lindros and refusing to join team.

 

[Ducks76]

Everyone in Finland except his fanboys knew that his style doesn't suit the NHL. He is dumb as a rock, has none IQ, hockey or otherwise. He might make it in some other league but in NHL never.

But the NHL-scouts must to be "thumb as a rock" too.

 

[MVP of West Hollywd]

Yes but it's absolutely insane this guy played as a rookie. If there's ever a type of prospect to not rush...

 

[Sniper99]

Hes 20 and guys in here are already wondering if hes a bust. No hes not, could probably use a change of scenery though.
Slow day in here when people call young 20 year olds bust already. LOL

 

[The Winter Soldier]

Oilers have not handled him correctly. He should be in the AHL if he is not going to be used in top 6 mins and PP time. He's a great talent that will ultimately develop. But I do hope for his sake, he gets put into a postiton to succeed soon so he can properly develop.

 

[The Winter Soldier]

Oilers have not handled him correctly. He should be in the AHL if he is not going to be used in top 6 mins and PP time. He's a great talent that will ultimately develop. But I do hope for his sake, he gets put into a postiton to succeed

 

[Stephen]

Well Kasperi Kapanen made his breakthrough just this year at age of 22, and Im not sure he is the smartest player out there either. I would not count Pulju out yet.

But will he be top something player? No he wont, but with some luck he could be another Kasperi Kapanen with slightly different atributes, if he works hard enough.

Kapanen is a pretty heads up player. I don't think you stick dumb dumbs out on the penalty kill...

 

[LordZapp]

After 89 games played its safe to say he's been unimpressive. Even while playing with McDavid he couldn't produce. Is there still hope he will develop in to a solid winger or did Oilers waste their pick on Pulju?

He's going to Dylan strome the oilers when he's traded. Heard it here first.

 

[General Disarray]

The season is over, they are like 6 points away from last place. Why can't they just give the guy minutes. It doesn't matter if they win or lose at this point.

 

[McDNicks17]

Oilers have not handled him correctly. He should be in the AHL if he is not going to be used in top 6 mins and PP time. He's a great talent that will ultimately develop. But I do hope for his sake, he gets put into a postiton to succeed

He and his agent have publicly stated that he belongs in the NHL and they don't want him in the AHL, so that basically means the only position for him to succeed is in Europe.

He's just not a good NHLer and has no business being near the top 6 or PP. The Oilers #9D has more hockey sense and puck skill than he does.