Player Discussion Jesse Puljujarvi '18-19 Season

[HockeyHistorian]

I don’t see the hockey sense or IQ, I don’t think he processes the play quickly enough. So I say turn him into a Holmstrom and you’ll have one of the most dominant net front presences in the league. He’s great in close, heck get Ryan Smyth teaching him how to deflect and battle in front. We need a big down low threat but he has to get to the net to be effective. I don’t see him as an off the rush star.

Make the safe play, keep it simple, use your size. Get to the net.

I think offensive creativity (some might call it hockey sense or IQ) is one of his strengths. However, if he somehow fails to live up to expectations, that's not a bad plan B. Beofre that, I would try playing him consistently with the most skilled linemates as possible, so that his talent isn't wasted.

 

[Throttlehead]

I dont think Puljujarvi has any issues with hockey sense, the rink is smaller and the game is quicker. I think his main issue is strength, especially leg strength. Once he packs on a few man pounds, he is going to have to realize that he is a bigger guy and has use it to his advantage. He is a good skater, has a good shot, decent passer. They have to build him up in good situations and give him confidence, and he'll be on his way. Although I maintain that McLellan is one of the worst at building up a player's confidence, in fact he seems to be one of the best at finding a way to kill player's confidence. The kid just needs some time to adjust and grow up. he'll be ok. Please play him on the PP!!!

I think Jesse, Strome and Jujhar are going to have a much better year.

 

[Soundwave]

I dont think Puljujarvi has any issues with hockey sense, the rink is smaller and the game is quicker. I think his main issue is strength, especially leg strength. Once he packs on a few man pounds, he is going to have to realize that he is a bigger guy and has use it to his advantage. He is a good skater, has a good shot, decent passer. They have to build him up in good situations and give him confidence, and he'll be on his way. Although I maintain that McLellan is one of the worst at building up a player's confidence, in fact he seems to be one of the best at finding a way to kill player's confidence. The kid just needs some time to adjust and grow up. he'll be ok. Please play him on the PP!!!

I think Jesse, Strome and Jujhar are going to have a much better year.

I think he has a lack of finish. Went back and watched some of his older highlights from the Finnish League and World Juniors and yes he generated a lot of chances, but he also seemed to miss a lot of chances.

I'm pretty sure he's had like three or four 2-on-1 chances with McDavid where Connor has fed him the puck and he's hit the post or powdered it right into the goalie.

I think Jesse will be an OK player, but probably not a star player. The pick there should've been Sergachev or Tkachuk. I think it's likely Columbus was correct in passing on him.

It's frustrating because it seems like whenever we should pick the ranked player (like Barzal or Connor in '15) we opt to go off the board and when we shouldn't take the ranked player we end up taking the ranked player. We always seem to find a way to turn left when we should be turning right and vice versa.

 

[HockeyHistorian]

I think he has a lack of finish. Went back and watched some of his older highlights from the Finnish League and World Juniors and yes he generated a lot of chances, but he also seemed to miss a lot of chances.

I'm pretty sure he's had like three or four 2-on-1 chances with McDavid where Connor has fed him the puck and he's hit the post or powdered it right into the goalie.

The lack of finish is a knock on Pulju I am willing to agree. When he is on his game he generates a lot, but he tends to miss his chances a bit too often.

 

[Perfect_Drug]

Jesse has the chance to be a HDSC machine if we develop him to be one.

I think turning him into Holmstrom is a terrible idea

 

[harpoon]

I think he has a lack of finish. Went back and watched some of his older highlights from the Finnish League and World Juniors and yes he generated a lot of chances, but he also seemed to miss a lot of chances.

Watch the highlight video of seventeen year old Puljujarvi that was posted at the tail end of the previous thread. As a fan of the kid it was kind of shocking to see the ten bell chances he missed. Twenty some shots, three goal posts and nothing to show for it.

 

[McFlyingV]

Watch the highlight video of seventeen year old Puljujarvi that was posted at the tail end of the previous thread. As a fan of the kid it was kind of shocking to see the ten bell chances he missed. Twenty some shots, three goal posts and nothing to show for it.

Are you referring to the world juniors where he led the tournament in shots, but had zero points? He was 16 during that tournament, an age that very few players (and only exceptional ones in Canada like McDavid and Crosby) play in the tournament. As a 17 year old he led the tournament in scoring.

 

[harpoon]

My bad on the age. Doesn’t change the shocking number of glorious chances missed.

 

[Drivesaitl]

Jesse has the chance to be a HDSC machine if we develop him to be one.

I think turning him into Holmstrom is a terrible idea

Are you using an unheard of acronym in order to cause people to ask what in hell the non googleable term actually means to you?

So I'll ask. What are you talking about?

 

[Perfect_Drug]

Are you using an unheard of acronym in order to cause people to ask what in hell the non googleable term actually means to you?

So I'll ask. What are you talking about?

High danger scoring chance

 

[Drivesaitl]

High danger scoring chance

Thanks. Not everybody on the board knows the 316 tables and acronyms used in "hockey analytics".

 

[CupofOil]

I was hyped on him but ever since his draft Day he has been incredibly disappointing and hasn't been even close to the player he showed before that

How can he show much with limited top 6 time and zero top unit PP time?

Firstly, I want to state that there's a lot of well thought out posts from both sides after reading through the thread. For a change, it's nice to see well articulated debate independent of the mud slinging and name calling that we've seen in so many other threads this offseason so kudos to you guys on both sides of the debate.

I can see points well made on both sides but the one thing nobody has given justification to is his complete lack of top unit PP time especially on a unit that is devoid of a goal scorer and why he wasn't given a long look in the top 6 late last season in what turned out to be a development year while a vet who had no future here, bottom 6 grinders and tweeners gobbled up all that playing time? That was the perfect time to give him some top 6 experience or at the very least, top unit PP time, to boost confidence going into the offseason so that he'd be better prepared to play with skill going into this season.

I understand that a lot of it is on Jesse himself and he certainly did himself no favors with lackluster play and waning effort as the season wore on but there was an opening on the top unit PP time (which was last in the league) and Draisaitl's line where nobody took the bull by the horns and earned that spot so why not develop your best offensive prospect during a time of year that should have been all about development?

In any event, I don't mind him starting on the 3rd line to start the season (hopefully Khaira and not Cagguila is flanking the left side) but for the love of god, please give him a look on the top PP unit to start preseason and give him at least a few games to show what he's got. The PP is the perfect place to boost young offensive minded player confidence with all the space to work with. Confidence derived from the PP could very well translate to even strength play and will also be a message to JP that the coaches finally have some trust in him.
Sometimes the horse needs to be let out of the stable and allowed to run free and the Oilers have never been better equipped to jump a youngster in the top 6 with the center depth they now possess.

In closing, the one caveat to giving him a bigger opportunity is the 2nd contract. If he does break out to the tune of something like 25 goals, 60 points, it could be problematic because the Oilers aren't equipped to hand out a big contract next season so it's a fine line between developing his offensive game properly and developing it properly too soon. I'm sure this has crossed the mind of JP and his agent with his contract looming, I'm sure they expected him to be further along at this point when he was drafted.

 

[GameChanger]

My bad on the age. Doesn’t change the shocking number of glorious chances missed.

He hit the post/crossbar at least four times. I know it doesn't count as a goal, but those weren't bad attempts.

 

[FlameChampion]

I dont think his problem is hockey sense. It may not be as high as originally anticipated though (at least in terms of offense).

When I watch him I think he reads the play pretty well (especially defensively) but sometimes he just fails to execute. This to me means he has good hockey sense.

I think his problem more is just communication. I dont think he understands the coaching systems very well. I think McLellan has probably over communicated and combined with Puljujarvi's inability to really understand english, has ended up him feeling lost. Then he ends up losing confidence and his game goes downhill. He ends up second guessing himself rather than trusting himself, which causes a delay in his game. I think McLellan needs to coach him to simplify his game and let JP play to his strengths.

Hopefully with new assistant coaches, it will help JP by having some new eyes on him. Hopefully JP has worked on his english in the offseason. This is a really important year for him.

 

[GameChanger]

I think offensive creativity (some might call it hockey sense or IQ) is one of his strengths. However, if he somehow fails to live up to expectations, that's not a bad plan B. Beofre that, I would try playing him consistently with the most skilled linemates as possible, so that his talent isn't wasted.

At least earlier creating chances for the others has been a strength for Puljujarvi. Actually during his first season he was the best at primary assists/60 in the NHL so I'm hoping he'll show some more in that area this season. I'm not saying Jesse finished perfectly himself either, but especially Lucic failed to score too many times from the opportunities he created.

I understand if especially the end of the season made some people worried, but I can't overlook the fact that his production has been fine when playing in the top6. I also believe the major ace is still in the sleeve, powerplay can showcase what I personally have loved in him. I'm very very disappointed if we still don't see that this season.

 

[oobga]

Fingers crossed for Pulju taking a huge step this year. I'm hopefully that he is on the guys that will benefit most from the assistant coaching changes. Kid's confidence seemed to waiver a lot the last 2 years, and I think the assistants we had were total duds, just lame playback devices spouting recordings of what Todd says with no original ideas.

Only tough part is that we may not be able to afford to pay this kid bonuses. Could be set out from day 1 needing to exceed the cap and use LTIR. So, if we're gonna be keeping him out of the top PP situations and away from top ice time for the first ~half season to be totally sure he can't land a lot of bonuses to give us a penalty next year, the coaching staff keeping his spirits up any way they can will be important.

 

[GameChanger]

Hopefully JP has worked on his english in the offseason.

It's easy to forget things during the summer time but I know as a fact he's had some lessons and has gathered knowledge that should help with preparing him for the season and in the longer run, too. I know he understands English well so that can't be a problem anymore. The talking side is getting there, but it's a slower process.

 

[CycloneSweep]

How can he show much with limited top 6 time and zero top unit PP time?

Because a player can still show well on lower lines? You can still be a good player with non good linemates? The boxcars won't necessarily show it but what they do on ice can. With Pulju I rarely get any hints or flashes of his pre draft self.

 

[Drivesaitl]

How can he show much with limited top 6 time and zero top unit PP time?

Firstly, I want to state that there's a lot of well thought out posts from both sides after reading through the thread. For a change, it's nice to see well articulated debate independent of the mud slinging and name calling that we've seen in so many other threads this offseason so kudos to you guys on both sides of the debate.

I can see points well made on both sides but the one thing nobody has given justification to is his complete lack of top unit PP time especially on a unit that is devoid of a goal scorer and why he wasn't given a long look in the top 6 late last season in what turned out to be a development year while a vet who had no future here, bottom 6 grinders and tweeners gobbled up all that playing time? That was the perfect time to give him some top 6 experience or at the very least, top unit PP time, to boost confidence going into the offseason so that he'd be better prepared to play with skill going into this season.

I understand that a lot of it is on Jesse himself and he certainly did himself no favors with lackluster play and waning effort as the season wore on but there was an opening on the top unit PP time (which was last in the league) and Draisaitl's line where nobody took the bull by the horns and earned that spot so why not develop your best offensive prospect during a time of year that should have been all about development?

In any event, I don't mind him starting on the 3rd line to start the season (hopefully Khaira and not Cagguila is flanking the left side) but for the love of god, please give him a look on the top PP unit to start preseason and give him at least a few games to show what he's got. The PP is the perfect place to boost young offensive minded player confidence with all the space to work with. Confidence derived from the PP could very well translate to even strength play and will also be a message to JP that the coaches finally have some trust in him.
Sometimes the horse needs to be let out of the stable and allowed to run free and the Oilers have never been better equipped to jump a youngster in the top 6 with the center depth they now possess.

In closing, the one caveat to giving him a bigger opportunity is the 2nd contract. If he does break out to the tune of something like 25 goals, 60 points, it could be problematic because the Oilers aren't equipped to hand out a big contract next season so it's a fine line between developing his offensive game properly and developing it properly too soon. I'm sure this has crossed the mind of JP and his agent with his contract looming, I'm sure they expected him to be further along at this point when he was drafted.

@Aerchon covered this brilliantly in the previous thread and you probably read the extended version of the bolded there. This, and not handing out the plum assignments before seeing the player play a solid all round game is the reason why a club would not be in a rush to give Pulju all the time. As another poster mentioned in some teams Pulju would not even have been playing in the NHL the last couple seasons but in the minors or elsewhere continuing to hone his game.

From the team sense giving PP time would reward observed non committed play. Now I realize the team does that for some players but they shouldn't be doing it for anybody. Lucic and Cagg shouldn't have been there either.

That said, myself, I have no prob with Pulju on the PP. Put him there. But it will take a little more for the team to be doing that more.

 

[CupofOil]

Because a player can still show well on lower lines? You can still be a good player with non good linemates? The boxcars won't necessarily show it but what they do on ice can. With Pulju I rarely get any hints or flashes of his pre draft self.

He always played with skill pre-draft. Some players need to play with skill to get the most of their abilities and JP seems to be that type of player.
He's not good enough or should I say, polished enough, to be a line driver at this point in his career so it's going to be a struggle when he's asked to be the most skilled player on a line.

I'm not absolving him of blame as a lot of the onus is on the player himself to improve but I also think expectations for his first few seasons were way out of whack.
When I watched him going into the draft, I saw a player with a lot of tools but a player that was also a bit of a project and would require patience. Some people were comparing him to Hall for god sakes, just way too much pressure on him to perform right off the bat.

 

[CupofOil]

@Aerchon covered this brilliantly in the previous thread and you probably read the extended version of the bolded there. This, and not handing out the plum assignments before seeing the player play a solid all round game is the reason why a club would not be in a rush to give Pulju all the time. As another poster mentioned in some teams Pulju would not even have been playing in the NHL the last couple seasons but in the minors or elsewhere continuing to hone his game.

From the team sense giving PP time would reward observed non committed play. Now I realize the team does that for some players but they shouldn't be doing it for anybody. Lucic and Cagg shouldn't have been there either.

That said, myself, I have no prob with Pulju on the PP. Put him there. But it will take a little more for the team to be doing that more.

It's a 2 way street. Sure, he should earn his promotion but in the same token, it's tough to perform when you don't get any confidence from the coaches.

As I said before, there was no reason to not give him an extended look in the top 6 in the development portion of last season or at least a long look on the top PP unit. It's not like anybody else earned their way into those spots (Lucic, Cagguila, Aberg to name a few) and playing Cammalleri in the top 6 for such a long period was such a complete waste of time that had no hope of accomplishing anything going forward. It would have been an ideal time to develop his offensive game and it was a missed opportunity to better prepare him for the role going into this season IMO.

 

[Drivesaitl]

It's a 2 way street. Sure, he should earn his promotion but in the same token, it's tough to perform when you don't get any confidence from the coaches.

As I said before, there was no reason to not give him an extended look in the top 6 in the development portion of last season or at least a long look on the top PP unit. It's not like anybody else earned their way into those spots (Lucic, Cagguila, Aberg to name a few) and playing Cammalleri in the top 6 for such a long period was such a complete waste of time that had no hope of accomplishing anything going forward.

Its not like we disagree on this. but its HARD for a club to redirect despondence. How do you do that? By his own word, quoted, Pulju left last season "dispirited" not with the coaching, with how NHL play is, i.e. its real tough. He also stated he was exhausted. (not sure if mentally or physically)

What I detected is that the Pulju mind energy was often off. That he looked like a disconnected player at times. What do you do with that as a coach? Say Hey, you need to be trying harder out there. They tried telling him that. They even leaked the news through Craig Simpson to try to tell him that message indirectly.

Its one thing to redirect a Taylor Hall who is angry or channeling energy wrong. Its harder to redirect the energy of a player that is sometimes giving up and not bringing that energy. So that coaching doesn't light that fire, that one has to be self starting.

Nail had the same problem. Most times the pilot wasn't lit. It took me a long while to come to that conclusion. It has impacted me in this one, because once learned, I'm seeing some similarities. (I acknowledge this could be distortion)

Please don't think this is a comparison or that Pulju will not pull out. Its just that this is where he has been so far.

 

[CupofOil]

Its not like we disagree on this. but its HARD for a club to redirect despondence. How do you do that? By his own word, quoted, Pulju left last season "dispirited" not with the coaching, with how NHL play is, i.e. its real tough. He also stated he was exhausted. (not sure if mentally or physically)

What I detected is that the Pulju mind energy was often off. That he looked like a disconnected player at times. What do you do with that as a coach? Say Hey, you need to be trying harder out there. They tried telling him that. They even leaked the news through Craig Simpson to try to tell him that message indirectly.

Its one thing to redirect a Taylor Hall who is angry or channeling energy wrong. Its harder to redirect the energy of a player that is sometimes giving up and not bringing that energy. So that coaching doesn't light that fire, that one has to be self starting.

Nail had the same problem. Most times the pilot wasn't lit. It took me a long while to come to that conclusion. It has impacted me in this one, because once learned, I'm seeing some similarities. (I acknowledge this could be distortion)

Please don't think this is a comparison or that Pulju will not pull out. Its just that this is where he has been so far.

Fair comments but I think this was a function of the entire group being dispirited and creating a toxic environment that probably made it a task for everybody to come to the rink every day. This is why I think it's tough to evaluate anybody based on last season, it was a shit storm that affected everybody at some point even Drai and Nurse who had good first halves and became despondent on many nights in the last month or two.

JP, like everybody else including the fans, is probably thrilled to put last season behind them and start fresh.
I'm encouraged that he went to a shorter stick. This should allow him to puck handle better which has been a weakness for him going to back to pre-draft days. It should have been done sooner to be honest.

 

[FlameChampion]

Its not like we disagree on this. but its HARD for a club to redirect despondence. How do you do that? By his own word, quoted, Pulju left last season "dispirited" not with the coaching, with how NHL play is, i.e. its real tough. He also stated he was exhausted. (not sure if mentally or physically)

What I detected is that the Pulju mind energy was often off. That he looked like a disconnected player at times. What do you do with that as a coach? Say Hey, you need to be trying harder out there. They tried telling him that. They even leaked the news through Craig Simpson to try to tell him that message indirectly.

Its one thing to redirect a Taylor Hall who is angry or channeling energy wrong. Its harder to redirect the energy of a player that is sometimes giving up and not bringing that energy. So that coaching doesn't light that fire, that one has to be self starting.

Nail had the same problem. Most times the pilot wasn't lit. It took me a long while to come to that conclusion. It has impacted me in this one, because once learned, I'm seeing some similarities. (I acknowledge this could be distortion)

Please don't think this is a comparison or that Pulju will not pull out. Its just that this is where he has been so far.

Could just be a language thing too. If JP/Yakupov for example arent comfortable with the language (which seems obvious), then it requires a lot more effort to try to understand things. I have been in situations before when I am in a room full of people who speak in a different language, then they realize that I dont understand what they are saying. Then they start to try and talk in english (because they dont want to be rude) but its not the same english that I am accustomed to hearing/talking in and honestly after a while it just becomes exhausting trying to focus/concentrate on what they are saying.

Everything I have read about JP is that the guy is a physical beast. Hes a gym rat. I dont think he would be getting tired physically honestly.

Its probably mental exhaustion. From the language and also from being hard on himself because he doesnt understand. I honestly just dont think he knew how hard the language/communication would be coming to a new country and playing nhl system with nhl coaching staffs.

 

[McFlyingV]

My bad on the age. Doesn’t change the shocking number of glorious chances missed.

Being a little hard on a kid playing against players 3 years older than him don't you think? The fact he was even creating those chances and coming that close to scoring so many times is impressive. Not many 16 year olds are even noticeable in that tournament.