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

[GameChanger]

It's actually pretty typical for Finnish youngsters, especially if they haven't gone through e.g. high school, to understand English pretty well but struggle with forming sentences. I used to be like that myself, but a few years living abroad and a lot of intensive work changed that dramatically.

Actually the intervied shown earlier was better than I expected and as that was done over a year ago I'm sure he's now doing fine enough after the year in NA.

It's interesting how some people put Pulju to the 1st line and some leave him outside the roster. I sure hope the Oilers are giving him a real chance (which I believe) or trade him. I hope Pulju is now on the same level as everybody else and is allowed some mistakes here and there (like was the case with some highly paid veterans last year) so he can play bravely and with a lot of enthusiasm. That way there is a great chance he'll end up being one of the best forwards of the team.

 

[Chet Manley]

It's actually pretty typical for Finnish youngsters, especially if they haven't gone through e.g. high school, to understand English pretty well but struggle with forming sentences. I used to be like that myself, but a few years living abroad and a lot of intensive work changed that dramatically.

Actually the intervied shown earlier was better than I expected and as that was done over a year ago I'm sure he's now doing fine enough after the year in NA.

It's interesting how some people put Pulju to the 1st line and some leave him outside the roster. I sure hope the Oilers are giving him a real chance (which I believe) or trade him. I hope Pulju is now on the same level as everybody else and is allowed some mistakes here and there (like was the case with some highly paid veterans last year) so he can play bravely and with a lot of enthusiasm. That way there is a great chance he'll end up being one of the best forwards of the team.

Could be people aren't projecting his effectiveness at the NHL level until seeing it. He has an excellent chance at earning a top 9 RW spot, especially with Eberle gone. Oiler fans have seen way too many young players handed a job without competition recently. One awesome thing about the current situation is if Puljujarvi can earn a spot he'll be surrounded by teammates that don't require sheltering as well. Should be room for occasional mistakes. (big assumption that Benning, Caggiula, Strome, and Nurse are a step past sheltering)

Can't imagine a scenario where Puljujarvi is traded. If he misses the cut, he'll be developed in the AHL some more. The Oilers need young guys like him in the near future.

 

[Staghorn]

It's not a surprise at all that some Finnish children may be some kind of learning difficulties ( i had those difficulties when i was a kid) during the elementary school.
You guys ( Oilers fans) will never know did Puljujarvi have learning difficulties in his elementary school years or whether he was in special education due to learning difficulties.

Every Finnish kid is individual and they learn things at different pace.
Some Finnish kids learn faster and other Finnish kids slower and there should be nothing special about that.
Because all Finnish children do not develop at the same pace than their North American peers.

And secondly Puljujarvi came to Oilers and NHL play pro hockey not speaking English with his teammates every single day.

I assure you FinnHockeyFan that these issues are not only there for Finnish students. I'd bet you that there's a TON of players in the NHL, WHL, OHL, AHL etc that were not the most "scholastic" nominees for their teams.... to say it politely. Sometimes families and or teams make education a priority, sometimes families and or teams see education as time wasted on the path to the Show... I'm not even talking about Pulju or Finnish people here, but people I know in the WHL or NHL circles who barely scraped by and maybe had some "help" getting through high school... of course paying the price now after the Show money dried up.

All that said, Pulju speaking at least a locker room caliber of English is important for his development and being a team mate. As I said before, I hope he dedicates X hours per day to a English tutor, and X hours a day to some hardcore training... then blows the doors off come main camp. It could be that simple.

 

[GameChanger]

Could be people aren't projecting his effectiveness at the NHL level until seeing it. He has an excellent chance at earning a top 9 RW spot, especially with Eberle gone. Oiler fans have seen way too many young players handed a job without competition recently.

I see what you mean and pretty much agree with you. I just believe that in cases like this the best way is to "promise" a place in the roster and if needed later (but not after just a couple of games) take the promise back instead of letting the player know that HE is the one that isn't allowed any mistakes as HE is the first one to be benched after a mistake.

What Pulju needs now (IMO of course) is assurance that they want him to play a "happy", quite offensive game and not worry if that sometimes leads into a few mistakes. His defensive game and moral are good enough so I can't see that costing many goals really. I'm sure that freedom had a crucial part in Laine developing so fast and I have a very strong feeling that's what Jesse needs as well in order to become a real offensive weapon.

And one more things concerning your message. You're spot on in the first sentence and I understand that. However, based on his /60 min stats there's a good reason to believe he can put nice enough points with more ice time. I'm not expecting him to be able to keep the same ppg he had when he played with McDavid, but I'm disappointed if he won't make at least 50-60 points if he plays in a top6 role.

 

[Chet Manley]

I see what you mean and pretty much agree with you. I just believe that in cases like this the best way is to "promise" a place in the roster and if needed later (but not after just a couple of games) take the promise back instead of letting the player know that HE is the one that isn't allowed any mistakes as HE is the first one to be benched after a mistake.

What Pulju needs now (IMO of course) is assurance that they want him to play a "happy", quite offensive game and not worry if that sometimes leads into a few mistakes. His defensive game and moral are good enough so I can't see that costing many goals really. I'm sure that freedom had a crucial part in Laine developing so fast and I have a very strong feeling that's what Jesse needs as well in order to become a real offensive weapon.

And one more things concerning your message. You're spot on in the first sentence and I understand that. However, based on his /60 min stats there's a good reason to believe he can put nice enough points with more ice time. I'm not expecting him to be able to keep the same ppg he had when he played with McDavid, but I'm disappointed if he won't make at least 50-60 points if he plays in a top6 role.

He'll be given every chance to earn a spot on the team. But IMO there should be no shame nor hard feelings about developing in the AHL. It's a good league to improve on a young player's offence without being in over their heads on defence. Like a promising boxer not fighting contenders before 10-15 fights into a career, work on everything without the risk of a PTSD worthy event.

 

[Evilsports]

Judging by Chia's comments and recent signing I would say that he is doing everything in his power to pave a smooth path for JP this season. I get the impression that Chiarelli has high expectations for the kid and that's exciting. He clearly knows more about him and his current level of development than we do.

 

[Bryanbryoil]

Judging by Chia's comments and recent signing I would say that he is doing everything in his power to pave a smooth path for JP this season. I get the impression that Chiarelli has high expectations for the kid and that's exciting. He clearly knows more about him and his current level of development than we do.

IMO many have written him off way too fast. I hope that he's having a good summer of training and that he comes into camp ready to set the league on fire. If Jesse reaches his potential we will have 3 dominant offensive players on our team.

 

[BB88]

IMO many have written him off way too fast. I hope that he's having a good summer of training and that he comes into camp ready to set the league on fire. If Jesse reaches his potential we will have 3 dominant offensive players on our team.

I hope Jussi has started his mentoring already, or taken it to the next level.

For Jesse now with Jokinene the best place would be NHL, have him spent as much time with Jokinen as possible, maybe even live with him the next year.

 

[McArthur]

IMO many have written him off way too fast. I hope that he's having a good summer of training and that he comes into camp ready to set the league on fire. If Jesse reaches his potential we will have 3 dominant offensive players on our team.

I thought he had a respectable first season.... He had a a couple games where he even dominated in the NHL. This season will be good for him!

 

[Mr Positive]

IMO many have written him off way too fast. I hope that he's having a good summer of training and that he comes into camp ready to set the league on fire. If Jesse reaches his potential we will have 3 dominant offensive players on our team.

JP didn't really get to have a real summer training. He was dealing with a knee injury while he should have been adjusting to the NHL game and NHL ice, and preparing for the ramp-up in talent he'd be dealing with.

Also, a lot of people point to his non-dominating performance in the AHL. I have little doubt that he would have tore up a kids' league like the CHL. Also, his focus in the AHL was not stat padding. He was focused on NHL development. Also, it's not like AHL is just a worse NHL. Some players who dominate the AHL do badly in the NHL (ie Lander), and some players who do badly in the AHL do really well in the NHL (ie Klefbom).

I think just about any GM in the league would be penciling in JP on their NHL roster. He is a high level prospect.

 

[Bryanbryoil]

I hope Jussi has started his mentoring already, or taken it to the next level.

For Jesse now with Jokinene the best place would be NHL, have him spent as much time with Jokinen as possible, maybe even live with him the next year.

Agreed, does any of our Finnish friends know if Jussi is married/has a family? It'd be great if Jesse could live with him even while he gets used to the culture and team. IIRC Drai lived with Nuge a few years ago and Connor lived with Hall and Gazdic 2 seasons ago.

I thought he had a respectable first season.... He had a a couple games where he even dominated in the NHL. This season will be good for him!

I think that he will be much improved with a full offseason and having a mentor on the team. I REALLY hope that he gets PP time to boost his confidence.

JP didn't really get to have a real summer training. He was dealing with a knee injury while he should have been adjusting to the NHL game and NHL ice, and preparing for the ramp-up in talent he'd be dealing with.

Also, a lot of people point to his non-dominating performance in the AHL. I have little doubt that he would have tore up a kids' league like the CHL. Also, his focus in the AHL was not stat padding. He was focused on NHL development. Also, it's not like AHL is just a worse NHL. Some players who dominate the AHL do badly in the NHL (ie Lander), and some players who do badly in the AHL do really well in the NHL (ie Klefbom).

I think just about any GM in the league would be penciling in JP on their NHL roster. He is a high level prospect.

We need to keep his confidence up, hopefully he can score a few early goals in camp and he can build off of it.

 

[bucks_oil]

I see what you mean and pretty much agree with you. I just believe that [bold]in cases like this the best way is to "promise" a place in the roster and if needed later (but not after just a couple of games) take the promise back instead of letting the player know that HE is the one that isn't allowed any mistakes as HE is the first one to be benched after a mistake. [\bold]

It seems to me that's what they did last year and it is the reason he lasted 40+ games before going to the AHL. He was making tonnes of mistakes to my eye, but they kept giving him time.

I wouldn't worry, they did the same to Draisaitl in his first year.

The JJ signing should tell you all you need to know.

 

[BB88]

Agreed, does any of our Finnish friends know if Jussi is married/has a family? It'd be great if Jesse could live with him even while he gets used to the culture and team. IIRC Drai lived with Nuge a few years ago and Connor lived with Hall and Gazdic 2 seasons ago.



I think that he will be much improved with a full offseason and having a mentor on the team. I REALLY hope that he gets PP time to boost his confidence.



We need to keep his confidence up, hopefully he can score a few early goals in camp and he can build off of it.

I believe he has a wife.

https://www.nhl.com/oilers/news/jokinen-ready-to-help-oilers-in-any-way/c-290324890
"Jussi Jokinen, who signed a one-year deal with the Edmonton Oilers, is ready to do anything he can to help the team win, including mentoring one of their young players.

"I remember when I was a young guy I came to the Dallas Stars and Jere Lehtinen was my roommate my first year I was able to learn from him what you have to do to be an NHL player," said Jokinen. "I learned how you have to train, how you have to play and carry yourself and stuff like that so I learned a lot from him."

Jokinen spoke with Oilers President of Hockey Operations and General Manager Peter Chiarelli before signing about helping Puljujarvi along.

"I'm there any time he needs something," said Jokinen. "I think he'll be a great player for the Oilers for a long time. He's a young guy and it's not easy to come into the League but I'll do everything I can to help him grow as a player and person."

Those are promising quotes.
I hope they work something out, Jokinen is a quality vet who I trust with mentoring Pulju, he understand the importance of that/impact it can make. Pakarinen just doesn't have the experience.

 

[Chet Manley]

I believe he has a wife.

https://www.nhl.com/oilers/news/jokinen-ready-to-help-oilers-in-any-way/c-290324890
"Jussi Jokinen, who signed a one-year deal with the Edmonton Oilers, is ready to do anything he can to help the team win, including mentoring one of their young players.

"I remember when I was a young guy I came to the Dallas Stars and Jere Lehtinen was my roommate my first year I was able to learn from him what you have to do to be an NHL player," said Jokinen. "I learned how you have to train, how you have to play and carry yourself and stuff like that so I learned a lot from him."

Jokinen spoke with Oilers President of Hockey Operations and General Manager Peter Chiarelli before signing about helping Puljujarvi along.

"I'm there any time he needs something," said Jokinen. "I think he'll be a great player for the Oilers for a long time. He's a young guy and it's not easy to come into the League but I'll do everything I can to help him grow as a player and person."

Those are promising quotes.
I hope they work something out, Jokinen is a quality vet who I trust with mentoring Pulju, he understand the importance of that/impact it can make. Pakarinen just doesn't have the experience.

Reads as genuine vs the typical hockey speak. Nice.

 

[GameChanger]

It seems to me that's what they did last year and it is the reason he lasted 40+ games before going to the AHL. He was making tonnes of mistakes to my eye, but they kept giving him time.

I wouldn't worry, they did the same to Draisaitl in his first year.

The JJ signing should tell you all you need to know.

I don't know about that. JP was considered by most pretty mistake free until the last games, in which he didn't get to play much if at all. I watched a lot of games (and read comments after almost every game I didn't see) and in those ones he was pretty error free compared to some veteran players or other rookies and the stats backed this up as well.

Maybe I missed something, but as you said in any case there's no reason to worry. This is a new season so he's older and has a year in NA and JJ to help him.

 

[LaGu]

I don't know about that. JP was considered by most pretty mistake free until the last games, in which he didn't get to play much if at all. I watched a lot of games (and read comments after almost every game I didn't see) and in those ones he was pretty error free compared to some veteran players or other rookies and the stats backed this up as well.

Maybe I missed something, but as you said in any case there's no reason to worry. This is a new season so he's older and has a year in NA and JJ to help him.

We have discussed this at lenght. He was good for being a rookie, but that is not the same as outplaying the veterans on the team. He had a lot to learn about play away from the puck and I bet he did in the AHL.

The /60 numbers, again, are of course great to look at but the sample size was too small and other issues too important to leave him on for that reason alone.

I won't go back to looking at his pts one by one (which I did several months ago in this thread), I like Puljujarvi and think he will be a great player. Let's leave last season behind us and look forward instead.

 

[GameChanger]

We have discussed this at lenght. He was good for being a rookie, but that is not the same as outplaying the veterans on the team. He had a lot to learn about play away from the puck and I bet he did in the AHL.

The /60 numbers, again, are of course great to look at but the sample size was too small and other issues too important to leave him om for that reason alone.

I won't go back to looking at his pts one by one (which I did several months ago in this thread), I like Puljujarvi and think he will be a great player. Let's leave last season behind us and look forward instead.

I had a bad feeling I might be misunderstood a bit as I didn't have time to select my words better. Of course there were clear things Jesse could and should improve, but I know I'm not alone with what I wrote earlier. I think most of the time he played very well for such a young guy without experience in NA, but obviously there was room for improvement in almost all the things. Including the ones you mentioned.

Yes the sample size of the /60 stats was quite small, but it's all we have available, along with complete and +- stats as well as corsis. I personally see it as a promising sign that at least those were clearly higher than some of the veterans (all except McDavid and maybe Drai). And when Jesse got frequent ice-time at some point actually even better than the other rookies, who later on in the season got their stats better while Jesse's dropped especially at the last games before being sent to the AHL.

I know there's some Eberle fans here, and I admit he actually had a clearly better second half of the season, but after 1/3 of the season he had made several goal costing mistakes and as far as I know, Jesse none if you don't count one penalty. I don't think there's much to back that all of the veterans (e.g. Eberle, Pouliot) or even youngsters (e.g. Caggiula) would've definitely been better than Pulju. For sure they were a safer choice towards the end of the season with their experience, already shown potential and I'm sure salary had something to do with it as well. And Jesse's performance dropped clearly when the higher minutes were taken away from him and he couldn't create quite enough offensively at the last games with Caggiula and Pouliot.

 

[LaGu]

I had a bad feeling I might be misunderstood a bit as I didn't have time to select my words better. Of course there were clear things Jesse could and should improve, but I know I'm not alone with what I wrote earlier. I think most of the time he played very well for such a young guy without experience in NA, but obviously there was room for improvement in almost all the things. Including the ones you mentioned.

Yes the sample size of the /60 stats was quite small, but it's all we have available, along with complete and +- stats as well as corsis. I personally see it as a promising sign that at least those were clearly higher than some of the veterans (all except McDavid and maybe Drai). And when Jesse got frequent ice-time at some point actually even better than the other rookies, who later on in the season got their stats better while Jesse's dropped especially at the last games before being sent to the AHL.

I know there's some Eberle fans here, and I admit he actually had a clearly better second half of the season, but after 1/3 of the season he had made several goal costing mistakes and as far as I know, Jesse none if you don't count one penalty. I don't think there's much to back that all of the veterans (Eberle, Puoliot) or even youngsters (Caggiula) would've been better than Pulju. For sure they were a safer choice towards the end of the season with their experience, already shown potential and I'm sure salary had something to do with it as well. And Jesse's performance dropped clearly when the higher minutes were taken away from him and he couldn't create quite enough offensively at the last games with Caggiula and Pouliot.

I agree with most if this. I also don't think he was bad in the AHL, the very little I saw of him and very good numbers for an 18 year old.

Looking forward to an interesting year. I have a feeling he will play himself onto the team and stick.

 

[GameChanger]

I agree with most if this. I also don't think he was bad in the AHL, the very little I saw of him and very good numbers for an 18 year old.

Looking forward to an interesting year. I have a feeling he will play himself onto the team and stick.

Yeah, I didn't mean to sound like I'd think there wasn't barely anything to improve. In fact I'd be worried if that was the case. I just think than Jesse played pretty much in the same level if not even higher than some veterans, but as he was a rawer case he was the one slowly dropped out of the roster. IMO in many other teams he would've stayed in the roster throughout the season, but the Oilers had a very deep forwards roster with several highly paid veterans and some reliable youngsters with more experience and no language issues like Jesse did.

 

[elmaco]

IMO many have written him off way too fast. I hope that he's having a good summer of training and that he comes into camp ready to set the league on fire. If Jesse reaches his potential we will have 3 dominant offensive players on our team.

You mean the Big Three?

 

[joestevens29]

IMO many have written him off way too fast. I hope that he's having a good summer of training and that he comes into camp ready to set the league on fire. If Jesse reaches his potential we will have 3 dominant offensive players on our team.

I don't know that a lot have written him off.

I think it's more there are a lot of that really don't care if he's in the lineup or not at this point. We don't need him like we needed Gagner, MPS, Hall, RNH, Eberle etc... If he's in the lineup then fine, but I'm not overly concerned about prospects taking multi years to find there way into the NHL.

I'm perfectly fine with him and others taking the team to develop.

What I'm not fine with is numerous fan boys that come into threads bashing how we deal with our prospects simply because a non-playoff team allowed their finnish prospect to make numerous mistakes at the NHL level.

 

[joestevens29]

Yeah, I didn't mean to sound like I'd think there wasn't barely anything to improve. In fact I'd be worried if that was the case. I just think than Jesse played pretty much in the same level if not even higher than some veterans, but as he was a rawer case he was the one slowly dropped out of the roster. IMO in many other teams he would've stayed in the roster throughout the season, but the Oilers had a very deep forwards roster with several highly paid veterans and some reliable youngsters with more experience and no language issues like Jesse did.

You can also send Jesse down to the AHL unlike others. No GM that is trying to win is going to risk waiving guys when he has a struggling rookie that can clear waivers.

 

[GameChanger]

You can also send Jesse down to the AHL unlike others. No GM that is trying to win is going to risk waiving guys when he has a struggling rookie that can clear waivers.

You're right, that must have played a role as well. I do have to say he wasn't really struggling before the last games though, but as mentioned there were many reasons why they thought sending him down would be the best option. And it certainly was better than giving him a few minutes with defensive-oriented line mates every three games or so.

 

[BB88]

I run into this again in Puljus main paige prospect thread and it's a good reminder of his potential. There's some highlight plays on that video, he had some dominating shifts in AHL.

With Laine/McDavid/Matthews/Eichel in the last 2 years it's easy to forget what's normal for these prospects and the potential Pulju still holds.
The huge thing for him now is that he has Jokinen to calm him down whenever needed, talk to whenever needed and just to learn everyday, keep his focus on right things, help with his confidence.

 

[Soundwave]

His development is extremely important for the Oilers. If he can be an impact player and we can get him signed to a cheaper deal before he really breaks out ... it would be huge for the franchise.