Player Discussion Jesse Puljujärvi 4th Overall 2016 Draft. Part II
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Jimmi McJenkins
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ChicagoBullsFan
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Oilers should thank Jarmo Kekalainen somehow for that he didn't select Jesse.
Now sent Jesse to AHL and let him play so much as possible in there.
No need to rush him Jesse is 18yrs old kid and he has plenty years time to play McDavid. Be patient with him points and goals will come.
ChicagoBullsFan
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McFlyingV
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I was hoping we'd somehow be able to move up and grab him, but unfortunately we didn't have a late 1st to move up with (nor do I know how high our organization was on him). Don't really think Detroit did Arizona a favour though (although it could end up looking that way if Chychrun becomes a draft steal), but trading a 2nd to move from 20 to 16, while taking on Datsyuk's contract wasn't exactly a haul by the Coyotes. The puzzling thing for me though was that Chychrun fell that far. I wonder if he would have made it to 20 if Arizona stayed there.
McDynasty
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- Nov 11, 2013
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I still think he makes this team this year. They've been giving him some time to work on conditioning and training. I can see if he steadily improves enough in the next few weeks they will play him more to gauge and see if he's ready. They are stretching out that 9 game evaluation over a longer period of time, which is smarter than just playing him 9 games straight.
I expect him to play vs Jets this Sunday.
I expect him to play vs Jets this Sunday.
Risingwind
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- Feb 26, 2015
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About AHL... it really isn't a bad thing for a kid to play there. I'd go as far as to say that even McD would have benefited from time in the minors, but in his case his 18-yo form was already "good enough." NHL players only have a couple months each year to build up muscle, that's why it takes until 20-25 to reach their full potential. Having the option to play in a lighter schedule opens up the option for accelerated physical development.
Once the body functions better there suddenly is more time to think and make good decisions. Getting that physical development curve starting to project at a steeper angle upwards at an earlier age can be a good investment for the rest of the career.
Once the body functions better there suddenly is more time to think and make good decisions. Getting that physical development curve starting to project at a steeper angle upwards at an earlier age can be a good investment for the rest of the career.
McFlyingV
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I don't think there's anything wrong with him spending some time in the AHL either, but I disagree with McDavid, he would have gained nothing from the AHL. He just needed a couple games to get comfortable before he took the league by storm.
Jesse has all the tools and just needs longer to get adjusted, which is no surprise with all the language, cultural, and style of hockey/rink size changes he's had to deal with. I don't mind them keeping him up for a bit here still and getting him in a few more games. He does a lot of things well, but you can just see its not all clicking yet. It could just end up clicking at any time, or it might take a while, we really don't know. He hasn't missed much for AHL action by being up here (only 2 AHL games) so I think they're fine keeping him up for another week or 2. I will say that if he does get sent down, I don't expect him to be down there for that long. He's going to eat up AHL goalies with his shot, and the extra time down there is going to make him more comfortable and confident in his abilities, to the point where I'd expect him to be back up in 20-30 games.
Its easy to forget that he turned 18 just 6 months ago, and he's coming over from playing his entire life in Finland. He's not one of these late birthday CHL stars that come into the NHL and look alright because they're almost a year older and have played the North American game their whole lives. He'll adjust, and he's going to be an absolute monster playing either as McDavid's shotgun, or as Draisaitl's "Hall" (figuratively speaking, in terms of driving the play/puck carrying).
Some Finnish media was speculating that Patrik Laine scoring his hat trick makes it so that Oilers might look at Puljujärvi and think that perhaps they should give him a proper chance after all, playing him 19min per night on the top line and seeing what happens.
That's what I hoped would've happened maybe already in the second game. Otherwise Edmonton's strategy to keep Pulju practising with the team and playing occasionally makes sense to me. I think it's wiser than what Colorado did with Rantanen last year, using the nine games immediately (hope I remember this correctly) and then not being able to bring him up after excellent AHL games, in the fear of burning the first year of the contract by doing so.
At the moment most of what Pulju and Laine bring to the ice can be replaced by more experienced players. However, they both have one tool that not many guys in NHL do, their shots. That's why I hope that also Puljujarvi would get at least a few games with a lot of PP time and a clear PP plan to utilize his shot. I believe he shouldn't need more than a few to score or get an assist from a rebound goal.
Gordian Knot
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- Jul 3, 2016
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How could he build up muscle better in the AHL than the NHL? He is already, physically, a very in shape and strong person. Probably not on the Hall/KlefBOM level, but close. By reports on days where he hasn't played he has done some very intense gym sessions and been working out hard in Edmonton. He wouldn't get the same opportunities for that in the AHL, riding the bus, and having less staff to help him out.
As for you saying that McDavid could have benefitted from time in the minors...
Yes it's impossible to know how long that takes. However, in Pulju's case there is a better than averige chance that it could happen suddenly. When Puljujarvi started the U20 Championships he had a mediocre (for his potential, even though he was just 17) fall behind. After the Championships he was like a new player, and what happened during the next few weeks is propably the deepest development curve I've ever seen. After that he was suddenly one of the best players in the league, pretty much game after game.
It'd be great if that could happen also in Edmonton, but it's great to see the pretty relaxed attitude here so he's not in a rush. I'm glad he is playing in Edmonton, now I've actually found a favourite team in NHL. I think there's not many other teams that could've done that even with Puljujarvi in the roster. The next years will be exciting.
- Apr 27, 2005
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If a team is making roster decisions based off the success of other teams (better) prospects because they are both from the same country, then someone needs to be fired.
Puljujarvi will or won't play based on the merit of his play, not Laine's.
Pretty much true, but it wouldn't be too surprising if that had a slight effect at the back of mind. I mean, Laine and Pulju are very similar prospects and when they see that Laine and Aho already have quite much to offer to their teams they may see no reason why Pulju wouldn't be ready for the same. But I'm sure you are right and they do make the desicions based on the situation in Edmonton and with Pulju himself.
Roof Daddy
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- Apr 1, 2008
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They don't pay a cent of real money and it was cap space they were never going to use anyway. I agree that a 2nd to go from 20 to 16 is standard value though and it wasn't really payment for taking Datsyuk, but maybe it's what it took for Detroit to pass on Chychrun.
Risingwind
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- Feb 26, 2015
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As for you saying that McDavid could have benefitted from time in the minors...
I'm speaking in terms of absolute, measureable improvement in muscle and nervous system function. Less games equals more time to train, nothing more complicated than that. There's no 18-yo on Earth who is fully developed, all kids have a very malleable body at that age.
It's true that in the context of today's NHL McD was already good enough as is, while Pulju has so far not been so.
It also makes the situation quite different that McD had played in small rinks all his life and had no trouble with the language, culture etc. Also the four months difference in age may not sound like a lot, but at such a young age it is something.
Today there were some stories about Pulju in the Finnish magazines. He said that he doesn't know yet if he's going to play on Sunday. Obviously this also depends on Slepy's condition. He also said that it'd be naturally nice to play at a game like that as the last time he played a game outside was probably a bandy game some five years ago. On Saturday Puljujarvi was practising in the second line with Draisaitl and Maroon.
Pulju also said that it was cool to be with Kurri and Tikkanen and he mentioned that Tiki "talked legends" (a straight translation from Finnish). The article mentioned that in the three games Puljujarvi has played approximately 10,51 per game. Pulju said that the coach makes the right desicions about the line-ups. He said he hasn't been that good in the first games, so he understands the desicion. He said that lately he has practised well and tried to keep himself in good shape for the next chance when it comes.
The article also said that (from above) Jesse has been able to watch the games from a different angle, which helps Pulju's own game in the future. Pulju said that is what the coaches were also after. He said he's noticed that you don't always have an as bad a rush on the ice as you may sometimes think.
The last sentence sounds like he really is adjusting to NHL speed, learning when to make quick decisions and when you can allow yourself some time. With this AHL may not help perfectly, although it's still the smaller rink size.
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That's not true. Pulju hardly got icetime in the playoffs eventho scored 9 points in 10 games.
Aho played 20 minutes, Pulju 13 minutes.
