Player Discussion Jesse Puljujarvi Discussion Part 4 [UPD: Nov 24th Recalled]

[FlameChampion]

When Puljujarvi came into the league in his first year, he was very good defensively in my opinion. He put himself in good positions. He has incredible reach with his stick. He broke up a lot of plays. His problem initially was that he didnt know how to use his frame, couldnt protect the puck well, had a hard time finding soft spots in the offensive zone. Under McLellan he started to fall off the map. Even last year he looked decent when he came up from Bakersfield and then proceeded to look worse as time went on. He looked completely lost. Couldnt handle the puck, couldnt make plays, so many weak plays, never wanted to hold onto the puck etc.

Right now we are seeing his game improve. We are not seeing the uglyness in his game as much. Less and less weak passing plays, hes starting to hold onto the puck more, etc. Hes still a work in progress, he still has to learn how to use his size, be confident to hold onto the puck more, and try to find soft spots in the offensive zone. We are starting to see his defensive game come back at least. Hes starting to look like a NHL player. I just dont know what his offensive potential is at the moment. Lets see where he is at the end of the year though. Hes at least trending upward at the moment.

 

[BarDownBobo]

IMO, if we want him to develop an offensive game, that's going to happen in Bakersfield, not playing 13 minutes a night against tough NHL opposition.

I wonder if his RFA status upcoming this summer plays a part in how the org is handling him. Learn a low-offense two-way game under Hitch than develop offensively in the AHL and then come up and contribute offensively the last month or two of the season. That seems like a lower next contract.

I watched 3 of his 4 games in the AHL this year(the one I missed was the game he was named first star), and honestly I don't think he'll gain much from being down there. At that level he is an absolute force and was controlling the play almost every time he was on the ice. I know 4 points in 4 games might not seem to say that, but it easily could've been 7+ if he had a bit more puck luck and his linemates would have cashed in on a few more setups. To me it has been 100% been a confidence issue with him at the NHL level, gripping his stick too tight in fear of making a mistake. The vote of confidence Hitch gave him last night having him out there to close out the game is going to go further towards his success than more time in the AHL will ever do IMO.

 

[BlackEye from Xhekaj]

IMO, if we want him to develop an offensive game, that's going to happen in Bakersfield, not playing 13 minutes a night against tough NHL opposition.

I wonder if his RFA status upcoming this summer plays a part in how the org is handling him. Learn a low-offense two-way game under Hitch than develop offensively in the AHL and then come up and contribute offensively the last month or two of the season. That seems like a lower next contract.

I disagree. If you want him to gain confidence, that's one thing.. but his offensive game needs to grow and adapt at the NHL level. Leaving him down, he could likely dominate the level of talent.

Each game he's looking better. Last night he looked really good out there. He will get chances (hit 2 bars the other night - half an inch and that's 2 goals). Just have patience.

 

[McD97]

TALKING POINTS: Hitch opines on Puljujarvi, goaltending tandems and more

Love the way hitch is working with JP so far. The offence isn't there yet but will come as his confidence rises. I think he could be an excellent PKer as well

 

[SaltNPeca]

1:35 - ♥ Poolparty plus Hitch baby! ♥

 

[elmaco]

1:35 - ♥ Poolparty plus Hitch baby! ♥

This is awesome, f*** you Todd.

 

[CycloneSweep]

1:35 - ♥ Poolparty plus Hitch baby! ♥

My big take from this is that Puljujarvi scores constantly in practice but it isn't translating to the NHL game yet. Makes me wonder if I was wrong and he is showing well just needs help with that last step.

Also apparently they want him to start PK cause the cock loves his stick.

 

[hallhopkinseberle]

My big take from this is that Puljujarvi scores constantly in practice but it isn't translating to the NHL game yet. Makes me wonder if I was wrong and he is showing well just needs help with that last step.

Also apparently they want him to start PK cause the cock loves his stick.

Honestly I feel like he just needs help with that last step. He needs to be more constient. Idk lately I have noticed there's a shift or two every game where he dominates. He had one early in the first period against Calgary. He creates turnovers and chances now. I think he just needs to keep on doing what he is doing and building his game and he could potentially be an impact player.

 

[McFlyingV]

This is awesome, **** you Todd.

I could like this post a hundred times. I hate the koala.

 

[Aerrol]

TALKING POINTS: Hitch opines on Puljujarvi, goaltending tandems and more

Love the way hitch is working with JP so far. The offence isn't there yet but will come as his confidence rises. I think he could be an excellent PKer as well

Honestly it's off topic but what he has to say about the goalie usage is my favourite part of that. You need to have your backup in every eight or nine days to keep them sharp. Todd's usage of goalies drove me nuts.

Also like to hear exactly HOW they're working with Jesse. Not just a blanket 'oh we're doing stuff'.

 

[KarmaPolice]

I could like this post a hundred times. I hate the koala.

I'd like to properly take credit for being one of the first (if not the first) to call out TMac for the moron of a coach he was.

Maybe those are too strong of words, but he's not a good coach in so many aspects that I saw from very early on. I even said many times, during the successful year, we were winning mostly in spite of his lack of coaching and game management chops, certainly not because of it. With Hitch behind the bench, I would bet almost anything we beat Anaheim instead of falling to pieces the way we did when things got tough. He was not able (or capable) to rally the troops to get the job done.

That said, he seems like a great guy and I wish him the best. I'd have a beer with him anytime and talk hockey. I'm sure he'd be a good coach in the AHL and other levels. He's just not a top level NHL coach. Most coaches are not. He still did very well for himself and made himself a ton of cash, and have to respect him for finding a way to do that. Hope he finds success elsewhere. Maybe he'd be a great assistant coach on another team. I mean, I can't think of any aspect he's great at that would lend credence to that notion, but we all learn and get better at things, so anything is possible.

 

[WigWam]

I'd like to properly take credit for being one of the first (if not the first) to call out TMac for the moron of a coach he was.

Maybe those are too strong of words, but he's not a good coach in so many aspects that I saw from very early on. I even said many times, during the successful year, we were winning mostly in spite of his lack of coaching and game management chops, certainly not because of it. With Hitch behind the bench, I would bet almost anything we beat Anaheim instead of falling to pieces the way we did when things got tough. He was not able (or capable) to rally the troops to get the job done.

That said, he seems like a great guy and I wish him the best. I'd have a beer with him anytime and talk hockey. I'm sure he'd be a good coach in the AHL and other levels. He's just not a top level NHL coach. Most coaches are not. He still did very well for himself and made himself a ton of cash, and have to respect him for finding a way to do that. Hope he finds success elsewhere. Maybe he'd be a great assistant coach on another team. I mean, I can't think of any aspect he's great at that would lend credence to that notion, but we all learn and get better at things, so anything is possible.

Wrong coach for this team, with some other team he might do just well at NHL level. I think he was a part of our GM problem too wanting different kind of players we had and put the pressure to Chia to get them. He wanted Pulju to be differend kind of player too and tried to force things only damaging things and the team more and more. But he might had done just fine with a kind of players he likes.

 

[HockeyHistorian]

Couldn't stay away, Pulju is my favorite player after all. Nice to hear they are working to use him on the PK, I have thought that he would make an excellent PKer for a long time because of his reach and speed.

However, this is what I'd really like to see start happening soon:

 

[nabob]

Honestly I feel like he just needs help with that last step. He needs to be more constient. Idk lately I have noticed there's a shift or two every game where he dominates. He had one early in the first period against Calgary. He creates turnovers and chances now. I think he just needs to keep on doing what he is doing and building his game and he could potentially be an impact player.

So you’re saying benching him and healthy scratching him with zero communication isn’t the best way to develop a prospect?

 

[Bryanbryoil]

Couldn't stay away, Pulju is my favorite player after all. Nice to hear they are working to use him on the PK, I have thought that he would make an excellent PKer for a long time because of his reach and speed.

However, this is what I'd really like to see start happening soon:

Too much responsibility too soon IMO. Let him get going at ES and get some looks on the PK where he could see some breakaways and 2 on 1's and go from there. Hitch wants him playing 16-17 minutes a night so sooner or later he will get PP time. It's amazing how much Hitch wants Jesse to succeed and is willing to put in the work. Jesse's English must've really improved by leaps and bounds on the flight to San Jose because it was a huge problem before and hasn't been mentioned once since.

 

[Risingwind]

JP on PK is a natural progression for his duties. If he continues to play like these past few games, then add PP on top of that as the spring progresses. I wished for him to get PK time since his first year in the league, but this is better than nothing. Also if we disregard the bit of line shuffling in the end of the third against the Flames, his current roster position is one of the longest standing line combinations in consequtive games in JP’s NHL career, and very soon might become his longest. How sad is that. The good part is that the JJ-Nuge-JP line has actually been pretty amazing. They’ve been so close to scoring so many times that I’m not worried too much about it, especially since the team is doing fine around them.

I wasn’t really all that familiar with the Hitch system, but I studied it a bit now. It’s quite familiar in that Jr Kärpät train in a lot of very similar ideas, and that’s what I think Hitch meant when he said that Jesse has been coached well in his teens. Previously I assumed it was some type of trap, but it really is a sort of anti-trapping trap.

 

[Delicious Pancakes]

JP on PK is a natural progression for his duties. If he continues to play like these past few games, then add PP on top of that as the spring progresses. I wished for him to get PK time since his first year in the league, but this is better than nothing. Also if we disregard the bit of line shuffling in the end of the third against the Flames, his current roster position is one of the longest standing line combinations in consequtive games in JP’s NHL career, and very soon might become his longest. How sad is that. The good part is that the JJ-Nuge-JP line has actually been pretty amazing. They’ve been so close to scoring so many times that I’m not worried too much about it, especially since the team is doing fine around them.

I wasn’t really all that familiar with the Hitch system, but I studied it a bit now. It’s quite familiar in that Jr Kärpät train in a lot of very similar ideas, and that’s what I think Hitch meant when he said that Jesse has been coached well in his teens. Previously I assumed it was some type of trap, but it really is a sort of anti-trapping trap.

I'm a Pulju supporter but I don't think having him on the PK is a good idea yet. He gets a little lost covering the point man in the defensive zone and that will likely get exploited if he's on the PK. Once he dials that in and starts shutting down passing lanes he'll start causing more turnovers with his reach but he's not there yet.

No reason why they can't use him as the left side shooter on PP2 though. Just need somebody who can get the pass through the box to him.

 

[Jamin]

My big take from this is that Puljujarvi scores constantly in practice but it isn't translating to the NHL game yet. Makes me wonder if I was wrong and he is showing well just needs help with that last step.

Also apparently they want him to start PK cause the cock loves his stick.

come again?

 

[CycloneSweep]

come again?

I said what I meant.

 

[Aerrol]

JP on PK is a natural progression for his duties. If he continues to play like these past few games, then add PP on top of that as the spring progresses. I wished for him to get PK time since his first year in the league, but this is better than nothing. Also if we disregard the bit of line shuffling in the end of the third against the Flames, his current roster position is one of the longest standing line combinations in consequtive games in JP’s NHL career, and very soon might become his longest. How sad is that. The good part is that the JJ-Nuge-JP line has actually been pretty amazing. They’ve been so close to scoring so many times that I’m not worried too much about it, especially since the team is doing fine around them.

I wasn’t really all that familiar with the Hitch system, but I studied it a bit now. It’s quite familiar in that Jr Kärpät train in a lot of very similar ideas, and that’s what I think Hitch meant when he said that Jesse has been coached well in his teens. Previously I assumed it was some type of trap, but it really is a sort of anti-trapping trap.

Can you elaborate on the bolded? I'm curious if I'm misinterpreting what a 'trap' is other than clogging up the neutral zone early rather than challenging the puck carrier.

 

[A91]

My big take from this is that Puljujarvi scores constantly in practice but it isn't translating to the NHL game yet. Makes me wonder if I was wrong and he is showing well just needs help with that last step.

Also apparently they want him to start PK cause the cock loves his stick.

I think its literally all about comfort and confidence IMO

 

[Tobias Kahun]

Can you elaborate on the bolded? I'm curious if I'm misinterpreting what a 'trap' is other than clogging up the neutral zone early rather than challenging the puck carrier.

Pretty sure a trap is not forechecking at all, oilers forecheck relentlessly

 

[Aerrol]

Pretty sure a trap is not forechecking at all, oilers forecheck relentlessly

Hm. Don't see anything about forechecking in here:

Neutral zone trap - Wikipedia

And I feel like I've read lots about how teams who trap also forecheck. IDK. Hockey vocab is too loose lol.

 

[Risingwind]

Can you elaborate on the bolded? I'm curious if I'm misinterpreting what a 'trap' is other than clogging up the neutral zone early rather than challenging the puck carrier.

That’s the portion where they go in opposite directions. A trap and the Hitch system have the same goal of blocking the neutral zone, but with sort of opposing methods. I remember the buzzword ’total hockey’ being talked about in the years past, which had these same sort of ideas as Hitch’ defensive system. I’m not sure if this happened only in the Finnish hockey media, though. Pure old-fashioned traps don’t seem to be much of a thing anymore with players like McDavid around to tear them apart.

 

[Aerrol]

That’s the portion where they go in opposite directions. A trap and the Hitch system have the same goal of blocking the neutral zone, but with sort of opposing methods. I remember the buzzword ’total hockey’ being talked about in the years past, which had these same sort of ideas as Hitch’ defensive system. I’m not sure if this happened only in the Finnish hockey media, though. Pure old-fashioned traps don’t seem to be much of a thing anymore with players like McDavid around to tear them apart.

Ah, thanks. I see what you mean. Interesting point!