Player Discussion Jesse Puljujarvi Part 10: Connor's RW

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Zaddy

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Jesse is currently sitting at a 13.5% shooting %. While his game may not look smooth at times, typically poor finishers don't shoot that high. Taylor Hall who I consider a poor finisher for a star player has only shot over 13% twice in his career and the only time that he bettered Jesse's current shooting % was in his Hart winning season.

IMO he needs to work on getting his shot off quicker on the rush when carrying the puck, but beyond that he's doing fine finishing wise.

Looking at shooting percentage in isolation doesn't really tell you that much. 13.5% is a lot higher than in any of his previous seasons (his career-average including this season is 9.4%, which is rather low for a top6 forward, Hall is at 10.2% by the way). The explanation for that, in my opinion, is two-fold:

a) he's spending a lot of minutes with players like McDavid and Draisaitl which means he is likely to be getting some amazing set-ups and scoring chances. That in itself will improve his shooting %. Naturally the inverse is also true, his shooting percentage was probably lower in previous seasons because of playing with worse linemates.

b) his finishing ability has likely improved from past years and/or he plays with more confidence now.

Jesse isn't really a volume shooter either so that would skew his shooting % higher if he plays with linemates who consistently sets him up for high-quality scoring chances. Say he played on a 2nd line with Kahun and Nuge for most of the season, then he'd be more relied upon being a finisher and would likely take more shots, in which case I think his shooting % would likely be a decent bit lower than 13.5% and more in line with his career average.

Hall is not really a good comparison because he actually is a volume shooter. His career-high in shots (286) in a season are over twice as many as Pulju's career-high (136). Even comparing those two seasons Hall had 9.09% and Jesse 8.82% despite shooting more than twice as much.

Either way I don't think shooting percentage really tells you much about a player. There are so many more variables involved you need to take into account like linemates, volume, where he is shooting from etc for it to have any sort of value as a gauging tool.
 
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SaltNPeca

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Give me a break lol. Pointing out an area of improvement in a player's game that could turn said player from a good one to a great one = being toxic?

I'm very happy the way Jesse's game has been trending and the fact that he took the (presumed) criticism/feedback from Holland and Tippett (and whoever else has influenced him) to heart and really worked on his game and accepted that he doesn't need to be the skill guy on his line but instead is fine with doing the 'dirty work' along the boards, in front of the net and defensively. I have lots of praise for that kind of attitude.

Also, to put this on record since we're talking about 'spreading negative vibes', I never once blamed Pulju or tried to character assassinate him when he went back to Finland unlike some other posters here. I thought it was the right move both for him and the organization, and as far as I can remember I don't think I ever supported trading him. I wanted him back, as long as he'd keep working on his game while in Finland and showed a willingness to adapt, which he evidently has done.

In short: I like Pulju and have nothing against him. I like where he is trending and I think there's a very real possibility he hits 30 goals next year if he continues to improve at the same rate.
Didn't @ u or quote you mate please don't take it as a personal attack. I've never accused u of any of those things, unless you consider yourself very influential and have spread negative vibes (I honestly don't know specifically)

More of a general feeling from attending so many Oilers games and having these kinds of discussions online and with friends & family. iirc Gags was trash, Arnott was a baby, Eberle was soft and no good, Drai was lazy/slow/badD, Jesse "wanted out", and so on
 

Zaddy

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Didn't @ u or quote you mate please don't take it as a personal attack. I've never accused u of any of those things, unless you consider yourself very influential and have spread negative vibes (I honestly don't know specifically)

More of a general feeling from attending so many Oilers games and having these kinds of discussions online and with friends & family. iirc Gags was trash, Arnott was a baby, Eberle was soft and no good, Drai was lazy/slow/badD, Jesse "wanted out", and so on

Fair enough, just thought it was directed at me since I've been posting a lot in this thread recently (I'm bored :))

Personally I think the discourse on Jesse ever since he came back has been generally very positive, at least the bits I've seen.
 

nabob

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Looking at shooting percentage in isolation doesn't really tell you that much. 13.5% is a lot higher than in any of his previous seasons (his career-average including this season is 9.4%, which is rather low for a top6 forward, Hall is at 10.2% by the way). The explanation for that, in my opinion, is two-fold:

a) he's spending a lot of minutes with players like McDavid and Draisaitl which means he is likely to be getting some amazing set-ups and scoring chances. That in itself will improve his shooting %. Naturally the inverse is also true, his shooting percentage was probably lower in previous seasons because of playing with worse linemates.

b) his finishing ability has likely improved from past years and/or he plays with more confidence now.

Jesse isn't really a volume shooter either so that would skew his shooting % higher if he plays with linemates who consistently sets him up for high-quality scoring chances. Say he played on a 2nd line with Kahun and Nuge for most of the season, then he'd be more relied upon being a finisher and would likely take more shots, in which case I think his shooting % would likely be a decent bit lower than 13.5% and more in line with his career average.

Hall is not really a good comparison because he actually is a volume shooter. His career-high in shots (286) in a season are over twice as many as Pulju's career-high (136). Even comparing those two seasons Hall had 9.09% and Jesse 8.82% despite shooting more than twice as much.

Either way I don't think shooting percentage really tells you much about a player. There are so many more variables involved you need to take into account like linemates, volume, where he is shooting from etc for it to have any sort of value as a gauging tool.
How do they stack up against each other for shots/minutes played and then adding in PP minutes played? If you’re going to compare previous seasons of Hall and Puljujarvi like that I think you need to keep in mind that one guy is a certified top line puck driver and the other has spent a large portion of his NHL career playing rather insignificant minutes before this season. I would expect Hall to have more than twice as many shots considering his ice time and PP usage. I also don’t think it’s a reach that prior to this season Hall has had vastly superior line mates and offensive opportunities compared to Pulju... guess what I’m trying to say is comparing a Hart trophy winner to a guy who struggled to stay in the lineup for three seasons won’t get anyone very far if you’re comparing their shot totals and not taking the things that influence shot totals into consideration.

sorry for the incredibly wordy and poorly written post. I appreciate your posts on Pulju and think you have it pretty darn accurate. :)
 

nabob

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Fair enough, just thought it was directed at me since I've been posting a lot in this thread recently (I'm bored :))

Personally I think the discourse on Jesse ever since he came back has been generally very positive, at least the bits I've seen.
For the most part it has been, especially considering what a huge success his season has been. There’s still one or two posters who jump on the hate train any time he has a poor game or flubs a play. But those posts are as predictable and worthless as a morning bowel movement considering who makes them.
 

Daryls Friend

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For the most part it has been, especially considering what a huge success his season has been. There’s still one or two posters who jump on the hate train any time he has a poor game or flubs a play. But those posts are as predictable and worthless as a morning bowel movement considering who makes them.
Yeah. What’s worthless as a bowel movement is those in the cult who go off the rails anytime someone does anything but wave unreservedly the pom poms, even if they are complimenting the guy..
 

nabob

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Yeah. What’s worthless as a bowel movement is those in the cult who go off the rails anytime someone does anything but wave unreservedly the pom poms, even if they are complimenting the guy..
Weird post considering I just told Zaddy I appreciated his posts saying that Jesse could improve his finishing...

Not a cult, just some posters here genuinely want Jesse to succeed. Sorry that you’re not one of them.

but glad to see that you’re continuing to add absolutely nothing of value to this board. :thumbu:
 

Daryls Friend

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Weird post considering I just told Zaddy I appreciated his posts saying that Jesse could improve his finishing...

Not a cult, just some posters here genuinely want Jesse to succeed. Sorry that you’re not one of them.

but glad to see that you’re continuing to add absolutely nothing of value to this board. :thumbu:
No no, make no mistake, its cultish.
On what basis do you say one doesn't want him to succeed? That someone says he doesn't have a great release ? That he doesn't have a great noggin? Thats hes fast but not quick.
Clearly thats a hater.
People who blindly wave pom poms dont add value.
I've been very, very complimentary of his play this year. In fact even saying that I'm not sure that I have ever seen as big a turnaround in a player. Acknowledging that I didn't see this coming.
But its not a hater when I say hes not great at certain things. Because to my eye, hes not.
 

nabob

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No no, make no mistake, its cultish.
On what basis do you say one doesn't want him to succeed? That someone says he doesn't have a great release ? That he doesn't have a great noggin? Thats hes fast but not quick.
Clearly thats a hater.
People who blindly wave pom poms dont add value.
I've been very, very complimentary of his play this year. In fact even saying that I'm not sure that I have ever seen as big a turnaround in a player. Acknowledging that I didn't see this coming.
But its not a hater when I say hes not great at certain things. Because to my eye, hes not.
Clearly you’re not reading my replies. That you are now trying to act as if you don’t hate the player and want him to fail, but many times in the past you have wished failure on the player just so his cult followers, as you labeled his fans, would see how wrong they were about a player that you claimed would never be anything and that you hoped never played for the Oilers again. I’m not sure if it’s the player that you want to fail, or if you just want to be right about your prediction that the player would fail, to spite those who hope he succeeds.

adding in your constant flaming including insisting that anyone who cheers for the player is “cultish” and “wave Pom poms” is just more childish behavior by you.

once again you fail to provide anything of value. Nothing but flaming and trolling.
 
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Drivesaitl

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Let the record show that Pulju was the best Oilers on the team last night in game 1. One goal, 4 shots, multiple chances, most dangerous, hardest working.

The very strange look last night was Pulju trying to will McD's head into the game in the first period.

Pulju was prepared, came out, played his game. He was the Oilers only star on the night with apology to Drai who didn't have much to work with.
 

mcdingdong

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Let the record show that Pulju was the best Oilers on the team last night in game 1. One goal, 4 shots, multiple chances, most dangerous, hardest working.

The very strange look last night was Pulju trying to will McD's head into the game in the first period.

Pulju was prepared, came out, played his game. He was the Oilers only star on the night with apology to Drai who didn't have much to work with.
Agree 100%. Pulju was moving his feet, taking hard lines to the net and demanding the puck in dangerous areas. Best player on the ice for the Oilers.
 

Aceboogie

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Just to add one last thing to the "finishing" debate, the analytics do back it up as well.

I swear, if he touches up his finishing ability a bit this offseason, hell be challenging Draisaitl for 2nd best player on this team. Mostly because his defensive impact is some of the best in the league

upload_2021-5-20_10-30-37.png


Moving on, tremendous to see playoff JP arrive in full force
 

Gordian Knot

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Next season he needs to be tested on PK and PP duties. Last PK shift with McLeod against PP2 or tired PP1 - one mistake and those guys are gone.
 

Gordy Elbows

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Oct 31, 2019
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Congratulations on your great game last night, Jesse.

Your reward to be relegated to the black hole that is the second line!
The beauty of Jesse's play is that he can be effective on both top lines. McD and Drai know Jesse's game, and he has learned theirs. Could be Tippett's ace in the hole.
 

Zaddy

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Didn't watch the game but I liked his goal. Managed to corral a bobbling puck and get away a good, quick shot through traffic. That's what I like to see.
 
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fancy dan

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i'd like to see him focus on learning to bodycheck better this offseason. he could crumple people.
 

CravenMH

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i'd like to see him focus on learning to bodycheck better this offseason. he could crumple people.
Yeah he is a big strong kid alright. His reverse hits lay guys right out. He's turned into a real keeper. I'm happy for him and glad to see things are working out so far.
 
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HockeyHistorian

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i'd like to see him focus on learning to bodycheck better this offseason. he could crumple people.
I'm pretty sure crumpling people is penalized. What I like about Jesse's physical game is that it is so clean. You never get the impression that he is trying to do as much damage as he can and that's just great sportsmanship. He just cleanly separates the player from the puck.
 
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