I agree with all you wrote, including the last sentence. It's interesting Aho seems to be playing around 20 minutes a game, where Puljujarvi as someone who takes physical training to the extreme "has to" be sheltered with lower minutes.
As much as it hurts from the Oilers view, I think Carolina would be a great place for Pulju. I'm sure the PP would be terrific as Aho and him formed an amazing PP duo earlier.
Pulju didn't shine and had a pretty quiet game so he played his part also, but according to what I read (and watched a part of the game) he was still the best player of his line, and probably better than at least Yamamoto in the top6. Strome didn't get much done as a center and as he lost 6/9 faceoffs that meant the line started their shifts with the puck only three times in the whole game. Unlike some other forwards it's also hard for Jesse to kind of save his game with PP points.
As the "connection with Strome" is done after just one game I was hoping he'd get a chance with Drai, but am not too surprised he ended up down to the 4th line.
I agree with all you wrote, including the last sentence. It's interesting Aho seems to be playing around 20 minutes a game, where Puljujarvi as someone who takes physical training to the extreme "has to" be sheltered with lower minutes.
As much as it hurts from the Oilers view, I think Carolina would be a great place for Pulju. I'm sure the PP would be terrific as Aho and him formed an amazing PP duo earlier.
I agree with all you wrote, including the last sentence. It's interesting Aho seems to be playing around 20 minutes a game, where Puljujarvi as someone who takes physical training to the extreme "has to" be sheltered with lower minutes.
As much as it hurts from the Oilers view, I think Carolina would be a great place for Pulju. I'm sure the PP would be terrific as Aho and him formed an amazing PP duo earlier.
So didnt really follow finish hockey but for those who did could maybe chime in. Alternate universe Winnipeg and Columbus dont win the lottery and the Oilers draft Laine.
Would he still be the 40 goal scorer everyone loves, was his jr play WAY better then Puju? Or is it a result of the coaching he is getting in Winnipeg? Or a bit of both?
Another question is if Puju was in Winnipeg how do you think he would do?
So didnt really follow finish hockey but for those who did could maybe chime in. Alternate universe Winnipeg and Columbus dont win the lottery and the Oilers draft Laine.
Would he still be the 40 goal scorer everyone loves, was his jr play WAY better then Puju? Or is it a result of the coaching he is getting in Winnipeg? Or a bit of both?
Another question is if Puju was in Winnipeg how do you think he would do?
So didnt really follow finish hockey but for those who did could maybe chime in. Alternate universe Winnipeg and Columbus dont win the lottery and the Oilers draft Laine.
Would he still be the 40 goal scorer everyone loves, was his jr play WAY better then Puju? Or is it a result of the coaching he is getting in Winnipeg? Or a bit of both?
Another question is if Puju was in Winnipeg how do you think he would do?
Well Laine probably would never have gotten any pp time and he'd probably be in the same boat because Laine outside of his shot isn't really a game breaker yet.
So didnt really follow finish hockey but for those who did could maybe chime in. Alternate universe Winnipeg and Columbus dont win the lottery and the Oilers draft Laine.
Would he still be the 40 goal scorer everyone loves, was his jr play WAY better then Puju? Or is it a result of the coaching he is getting in Winnipeg? Or a bit of both?
Another question is if Puju was in Winnipeg how do you think he would do?
There was a time I rated Pulju higher than Laine, but I gotta admit I underestimated Laine because he didn't really tickle my eyes the way Pulju does at his best, but watching him more during his NHL career, he's a very smart player. Also he has that shot of his. During his rookie season Laine got a bigger role than I think anyone expected because of injuries and he ran with it. The rest is history, though his usage has also been a bit puzzling at times. I have no idea how things would've gone in Edmonton, but somehow I have the feeling not quite as well.
If anything I would've thought Pulju is more NHL ready than Laine because his game seems more well-rounded. On the other hand I think Laine is the more ambitious and smarter of the two, both on and off the ice. He had his issues in his younger junior years, but I think he really dealt with those and is now stronger for it. And like I said, I also underestimated Laine because he doesn't have the kind of hustle and bustle about his play like Pulju.
Of "the three" of that WJC line, I think Aho was the great enabler and just as good a prospect as Pulju or Laine.
Despite being older, I think he was actually physically the most raw - I mean the kid looked like a 14 year old when he was 18. You can really see Aho is manning up now in a way most players already do a couple years earlier. While he seems like he'll always be of the lanky type, he has awesome core strength and he's used to playing against way bigger players all through the juniors. Now that he's manning up, he's suddenly on a level playing field. His hockey IQ is off the scales, I really believe he'll be a superstar in the league. Or at least would be if he played in a bigger market. On the other hand he gets to be the man in Carolina. Sorry for the off-topic bit, there's just something about that kid - there was a really nice little video clip of him explaining some play during his rookie year to Jordan Staal on the bench. Sounds silly, but the image of this baby faced rookie instructing a seasoned veteran and the body language of everyone involved seemed to suggest there's really something special there.
What's going on with Pulju in Edmonton? I see he played 2.50 in the first period of tonights game - what's up with that? I haven't followed him or Edmonton much, what I seem to mostly hear is two things - horrible usage and lack of opportunity and Pulju having trouble being consistent. I tried reading the Pulju thread a bit at some point, but it seemed to be a discussion about language skills. Honestly, hockey plays are not rocket science and there was a time when players perhaps not as talented as Pulju would come over with no English skills at all and still play excellent hockey. I think any good hockey player could play hockey in Chinese given a few weeks, without actually understanding a word of the language. I think that issue was overblown. Outside hockey it would be a way bigger problem. It's pretty clear though he's not very talented what comes to picking up new languages
To me McLellan didn't give him a slightest chance in this game. The demotion on fourth line was real (although it was hidden making it look like he started on the third). And along with Rieder he played least.
If McLellan continues coaching, I hope Chiarelli makes the right move and trades Pulju. Oilers could use some defensive talent for example...
This is very frustrating to me. Of course he looked like junk after the treatment he got. Almost afraid to do anything on the ice. I only hope people can identify the reason why...
Because it does seem like last two seasons recuring. If You have followed my postings, this was exactly what I was afraid would happen. Not meaning to be condescendig, but I knew it...
There was a time I rated Pulju higher than Laine, but I gotta admit I underestimated Laine because he didn't really tickle my eyes the way Pulju does at his best, but watching him more during his NHL career, he's a very smart player. Also he has that shot of his. During his rookie season Laine got a bigger role than I think anyone expected because of injuries and he ran with it. The rest is history, though his usage has also been a bit puzzling at times. I have no idea how things would've gone in Edmonton, but somehow I have the feeling not quite as well.
If anything I would've thought Pulju is more NHL ready than Laine because his game seems more well-rounded. On the other hand I think Laine is the more ambitious and smarter of the two, both on and off the ice. He had his issues in his younger junior years, but I think he really dealt with those and is now stronger for it. And like I said, I also underestimated Laine because he doesn't have the kind of hustle and bustle about his play like Pulju.
Of "the three" of that WJC line, I think Aho was the great enabler and just as good a prospect as Pulju or Laine.
Despite being older, I think he was actually physically the most raw - I mean the kid looked like a 14 year old when he was 18. You can really see Aho is manning up now in a way most players already do a couple years earlier. While he seems like he'll always be of the lanky type, he has awesome core strength and he's used to playing against way bigger players all through the juniors. Now that he's manning up, he's suddenly on a level playing field. His hockey IQ is off the scales, I really believe he'll be a superstar in the league. Or at least would be if he played in a bigger market. On the other hand he gets to be the man in Carolina. Sorry for the off-topic bit, there's just something about that kid - there was a really nice little video clip of him explaining some play during his rookie year to Jordan Staal on the bench. Sounds silly, but the image of this baby faced rookie instructing a seasoned veteran and the body language of everyone involved seemed to suggest there's really something special there.
What's going on with Pulju in Edmonton? I see he played 2.50 in the first period of tonights game - what's up with that? I haven't followed him or Edmonton much, what I seem to mostly hear is two things - horrible usage and lack of opportunity and Pulju having trouble being consistent. I tried reading the Pulju thread a bit at some point, but it seemed to be a discussion about language skills. Honestly, hockey plays are not rocket science and there was a time when players perhaps not as talented as Pulju would come over with no English skills at all and still play excellent hockey. I think any good hockey player could play hockey in Chinese given a few weeks, without actually understanding a word of the language. I think that issue was overblown. Outside hockey it would be a way bigger problem. It's pretty clear though he's not very talented what comes to picking up new languages
What's going on with JP is that the coach McLellan continuously refuses to give him any chance to shine. He had a good preseason, and nothing has been shown to give him a vote of confidence. Still stuck in the bottom 6 playing with grinders with the expectations to 'grind to the net like a bull' from the coach when that's not his style of play. Not properly utilized on a horrific PP that has the team's 3 best LH centers on one PP, while he's stuck with 4 other RHS on another PP.
TL;DR JP is getting the Yakupov treatment, but he's actually better than Yakupov offensively and defensively.
To add to all the comments above regarding JP’s development, have any of you taken notice of Matthew Tkachuk? Drafted one position lower than JP by our neighbors to the South. He’s been instrumental for the Flames since his first season, and now he finds himself second in points and wearing an ‘A’ for the team.
The Oilers are doing a great job messing up yet another draft pick.
Yup congratz the coach is more concerned with trying to turn Benning into a top 4 defenseman when everything he has ever done has pointed to him not being a player that should be apart of a playoff calibre team.
To add to all the comments above regarding JP’s development, have any of you taken notice of Matthew Tkachuk? Drafted one position lower than JP by our neighbors to the South. He’s been instrumental for the Flames since his first season, and now he finds himself second in points and wearing an ‘A’ for the team.
The Oilers are doing a great job messing up yet another draft pick.
To me McLellan didn't give him a slightest chance in this game. The demotion on fourth line was real (although it was hidden making it look like he started on the third). And along with Rieder he played least.
If McLellan continues coaching, I hope Chiarelli makes the right move and trades Pulju. Oilers could use some defensive talent for example...
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