Player Discussion Jesse Puljujärvi 4th Overall 2016 Draft. Part II

[ujju2]

Please send the poor guy to Bako. He needs to play more (and the team needs a steadier player).

Or at least give him some power play time. The Letestu One-Timer Era must end.

Hey, Letestu is the second best option, with Ebs having no one-timer. I agree, though, Pulju should be sent down or put on the PP.

 

[ujju2]

Has any reporter ever asked McLellan why he's not playing and why he's not in the AHL?

Lol yeah someone has to. Sooner the better.

 

[Giggli G]

Anyone see Dreger tweet that they will probably send him to the AHL after the road trip?

 

[joestevens29]

I see that a lot of you are talking about Puljus injury and surgery but Laine had the EXACT SAME surgery this summer. Don't know if they were operated by same doctor but both had their operation done by same clinic(KoskiSairaala, Tampere). They both had a MINOR meniscus tear.

Mensicus is funny for recovery time. Even in football, some guys are done forever(adrian Peterson) and others are back in 2 weeks(Big Ben).

My buddy is a roofer and was back on the roof 4 or 5 days after surgery. Yet before surgery he was just a mess.

 

[GameChanger]

Anyone see Dreger tweet that they will probably send him to the AHL after the road trip?

I don't know about that, but at least Pulju has been taught to deal with pressure this year

"You make one mistake and we'll bench you"
"You take a penalty and we'll bench you"
"If you don't bring results for the next couple of shifts we'll take you away from the first line"
"The 40 game line is approaching, you'd better play well if you want to stay in Edmonton"
"We are expecting results, make some miracles with the few minutes you get"

Of course these are imaginary sentences, but maybe not that far from the truth. I mean he's been given a lot of pressure for an 18-year-old, the situation has been so different from the one with Aho and Laine.

 

[BB88]

Anyone see Dreger tweet that they will probably send him to the AHL after the road trip?

I doubt he has any info.

But its' a good guess for the tweet he replied to.

 

[Senor Catface]

Too bad Bluejackets or any other organization didn´t pick pulju, now he´s just another victim of young talent graveyard. Oilers sure know how to ruin young players. There´s one exception, McDavid, but he´s so good that even oilers couldn´t f**k him up...

Taylor Hall, one of the best LW in the game.
Draisaitl, 20th in the league in points.

What were you saying again?

 

[Draiskull]

You know its sad when the fans themselves want a player demoted out of sympathy.

The kid either needs a lot longer leash or be sent down right away. It shouldnt have taken this long for Oil management to pick one or the other.

 

[dustrock]

Anyone see Dreger tweet that they will probably send him to the AHL after the road trip?

Someone on lowetide thought maybe they're keeping him up to have Pakman around to help with the language barrier.

If they send Pakarainen down to the AHL for a conditioning stint, maybe Puljujarvi goes with him?

 

[BB88]

I'm enjoying the overreactions from Finland.

Our media is not helping either. They are makng sure everyone knows how Edmonton is playing Pulju.

Even 2 weeks in the AHL could do wonders for him, 2-3 games to build confidence and hopefully 3-4 dominating games, get called up and continue it with regular pp time.

 

[SDig14]

Someone on lowetide thought maybe they're keeping him up to have Pakman around to help with the language barrier.

If they send Pakarainen down to the AHL for a conditioning stint, maybe Puljujarvi goes with him?

Sallinen is already in the AHL, so they could send him down with someone to help with any translation issues without Pakarinen.

I think they mostly liked keeping him up before the holidays and his family was coming to visit and all that. Then Pitlick went down and that may have changed their plans.

I still think he goes down soon.

 

[GameChanger]

The thing that's a bit frustrating is that if he'd been given constantly at least 10 minutes per a game, maybe some PP time and encouraging action and words from the coaches, there would probably be no problem at the moment. He should fit his place well enough and there is a good chance he could be a hot and confident player right now.

I would understand sitting him every fourth game or so (if they want to give some rest), but the last thing you should do with an 18-year-old talent is to punish him for each mistake. Especially when there hadn't been barely any when the benching project started. I think it could have worked wonders if McLellan would've showed that he really believes in Pulju and is ready to give him a bit of offensive freedom without the fear of being benched. I'm not saying that Pulju's career is ruined yet, but what a waste of talent it's been so far. And IMO waste of opportunity for Oilers as well.

 

[McNuge]

He should have been at WJC, absolutely no excuses for that. Should have also been sent down after the first couple months.

 

[jonlin]

Its really sad. What is wrong with the management here? Whats the possible reason to rather have him sit in the pressbox or play 3min/g, than trade him or send him down? Oilers wont get anything for him in a trade and he wont make any progress just sitting out. They didnt even let him play in juniors WC. WTF is the problem in Edmonton? I dont understand why the management deliberatly ruins young players confidence? Better trade him and fast..

 

[RipsADrive]

He should have been at WJC, absolutely no excuses for that. Should have also been sent down after the first couple months.

He should definitely not have been at the WJC. The Oilers made the right call.

There's nothing more for him there.

 

[Perfect_Drug]

He should definitely not have been at the WJC. The Oilers made the right call.

There's nothing more for him there.

I don't get this line of thinking?

What's the harm in having him wreck lower levels of competition as he gains emotional maturity?

JP was 6th on his FEL team in scoring when we drafted him. He wasn't exactly lighting up the FEL, or getting a bunch of ice time there either. He went goal-less with 2 Assists in 13 games of the Champions Hockey League.

The WJHC was really one of the only times JP had a chance to absolutely wreck the competition, and he did it riding shotgun with Laine. It would have been nice to see if he could carry a team alone.

He doesn't have flashy numbers anywhere except the WJHC.

What he has are insanely top end tools, we're hoping we can hopefully develop into a star NHL player, but he has never dominated any league competition since he was 15.


So yeah, there's a LOT he has to prove. Also if he could dominate at the WJHC without Laine, like Malkin did without OV.

 

[RipsADrive]

I don't get this line of thinking?

What's the harm in having him wreck lower levels of competition as he gains emotional maturity?

JP was 6th on his FEL team in scoring when we drafted him. He wasn't exactly lighting up the FEL, or getting a bunch of ice time there either. He went goal-less with 2 Assists in 13 games of the Champions Hockey League.

The WJHC was really one of the only times JP had a chance to absolutely wreck the competition, and he did it riding shotgun with Laine. It would have been nice to see if he could carry a team alone.

He doesn't have flashy numbers anywhere except the WJHC.

What he has are insanely top end tools, we're hoping we can hopefully develop into a star NHL player, but he has never dominated any league competition since he was 15.


So yeah, there's a LOT he has to prove. Also if he could dominate at the WJHC without Laine, like Malkin did without OV.

He won tournament MVP. His ability to wreck junior players has never been in question.

Whats most important for him is tailoring his skills to be successful against men on NA ice instead of taking a step backwards to playing against kids. That happens in the AHL or NHL.

 

[McFlyingV]

I don't get this line of thinking?

What's the harm in having him wreck lower levels of competition as he gains emotional maturity?

JP was 6th on his FEL team in scoring when we drafted him. He wasn't exactly lighting up the FEL, or getting a bunch of ice time there either. He went goal-less with 2 Assists in 13 games of the Champions Hockey League.

The WJHC was really one of the only times JP had a chance to absolutely wreck the competition, and he did it riding shotgun with Laine. It would have been nice to see if he could carry a team alone.

He doesn't have flashy numbers anywhere except the WJHC.

What he has are insanely top end tools, we're hoping we can hopefully develop into a star NHL player, but he has never dominated any league competition since he was 15.


So yeah, there's a LOT he has to prove. Also if he could dominate at the WJHC without Laine, like Malkin did without OV.

Well, not all of your post is true. He was absolutely destroying the top Finnish junior league as a 16 year old and had a pretty good split between Mestis and Liiga. His draft year Liiga numbers were a little lower than people were hoping, but were still in the elite range for Finnish undrafted prospects. He was also one of Finland's best players in the U20's as a 16 year old despite not registering a point (never seen a player hit so many posts in that tournament without registering a point). He also toyed with the U18's last year without Laine and did it while playing injured and sick. He also had a very good playoffs on his Liiga team last year.

I don't think there's much left for him to prove at a junior level. Its the pro-game that he has things to prove, and right now the AHL is looking like the best place given how poorly he's been utilized in Edmonton in terms of actual usage.

 

[booyakasha]

He should definitely not have been at the WJC. The Oilers made the right call.

There's nothing more for him there.

100% agree.

progression is moving forward, not back. The kid should be in the AHL.

 

[Conspiracy Theorist]

That would be best for him but Oilers are going to playoffs right now.
And it's possible Puljujärvi plays in AHL when 2017 IIHF men's worlds starts in France in May.

I wonder if Pulju should be invited to the Finnish WHC team. It could help his career playing with Barkov and Laine on the 1st line in May.

 

[Crobby]

Sallinen is already in the AHL, so they could send him down with someone to help with any translation issues without Pakarinen.

I think they mostly liked keeping him up before the holidays and his family was coming to visit and all that. Then Pitlick went down and that may have changed their plans.

I still think he goes down soon.

How is his English, anyway? People point to him as a possibly translator/mentor/fellow Finn but can he even speak the lingo ?

 

[bobbythebrain]

How is his English, anyway? People point to him as a possibly translator/mentor/fellow Finn but can he even speak the lingo ?

"Pizza I like"-JP

 

[Joe MacMillan]

Well, not all of your post is true. He was absolutely destroying the top Finnish junior league as a 16 year old and had a pretty good split between Mestis and Liiga. His draft year Liiga numbers were a little lower than people were hoping, but were still in the elite range for Finnish undrafted prospects. He was also one of Finland's best players in the U20's as a 16 year old despite not registering a point (never seen a player hit so many posts in that tournament without registering a point). He also toyed with the U18's last year without Laine and did it while playing injured and sick. He also had a very good playoffs on his Liiga team last year.

I don't think there's much left for him to prove at a junior level. Its the pro-game that he has things to prove, and right now the AHL is looking like the best place given how poorly he's been utilized in Edmonton in terms of actual usage.

And to add some context into the stats, his slow start to the season lessens his overall play if going by the numbers. He started the season with 13 mins TOI having to learn the system and played a pretty defensive role (don't recall whether he got any PP time). Just like in the NHL he needed to make an adaption to a new playing environment.

In January he really took off and played nothing short of fantastic for there on out. Scored at close to a PPG pace (25 in 29 including playoffs, 16 in 19 for the regular season, playing some of it with a nagging knee).

His stats over the full season don't reflect his actual play for the majority thereof.

I also don't think his stats were bad at all for a draft eligible player even at face value. For reference Laine put up 33 points in 46 (Pulju with 29 in 50) and he received around 2 mins more ice time per game.

 

[BB88]

I don't know much but I would say this game would be a great game for Pulju to build his confidence and for Todd to give him a chance.

But expecting him to be either sitting at the press box or stay on the 4th line with minimal icetime.

 

[Risingwind]

I'm thinking the physical game is where he's having the most trouble. It's a great contrast with Laine since they have a very different way to make space for themselves, and Pulju never really muscled himself into position in FEL instead of just using his speed (which is no longer super amazing when against NHL competition) - speed that seems to be oddly missing as well. The Oilers are employing a more physically oriented style of hockey and it might not be something that comes naturally to Pulju. That could be one feasible context where he's not keeping up with the game plan, getting less minutes because of it and all the problems in his current situation started spiralling from there.

I thought about this as Lucic was interviewed about the physicality of the current Oilers and he mentioned Pulju as well, though adding that he's just 18 for now. In any case, it's clear that he's just looking lost all the time. His positioning is off, when he gets the puck he's just starting to think what to do with it, and when you see shots of him on the bench he's not looking engaged, staring at the replays while the other guys are planning what to do next. Playing like this he would be booted off the Kärpät lineup instantly. Perhaps he's already resigned to that and is only waiting when he can go. I find it kind of weird that the team lets him do this, Mcdavid and the vets should really intervene when it's visible to everyone like this.

I still think he has the potential to become a dominant 1st line winger in any team, he just looks depressed or unmotivated at the moment. Maybe he should call Laine's mental coach? Another possibility to consider is that they're intentionally keeping him on a lighter schedule, since Pulju was known in Finland for being first to train and staying for additional training after the other guys left, and I sometimes thought that maybe he's overworking himself. Though every clip I see from Oilers training, he's just there staring off into space and not looking like he's working his butt off.