Player Discussion Jesse Puljujarvi Part 3: Hard times

[Barrsy]

Sorry for the repetition, but as I wrote there was a period of 12 games when he scored 6+3 last season with practically no PP time. The problems started in the bottom6 later on. Actually he was the best scoring winger until March despite of his production slowing down and practically stopping towards the end.

I'm sure he's developed during this year so I believe feeding his confidence and letting him play more to his strengths is a key in makíng him a useful top6 level player for the team. We'll see how that'll go, but I'm feeling pretty optimistic with Hitchcock (and Jesse) right now.

To be clear, Im not writing him off. Im hoping that he can still be a player. But its not looking good. But he has been mishandled IN REGARDS TO THEM NOT SHIPPING HIS ASS DOWN TO THE AHL for a minimum of a year and a half. But thats it imo. And the ironic thing that if he had been handled correctly (imo of course) people would have been screaming for him to come up.But you heare (anecdotally) about his act when he did get sent down , it really makes you wonder how easy of a decision that was.
But finally, I don't think hes played well at all, or shown hes very capable. And imo thats on him. And the excuses are tiresome.

 

[Boom not bust]

a few good games in the AHL doesn't make me think he is suddenly ready to be a good top 6 winger in the NHL and while I think Hitch is an upgrade on Todd I don't think it will be a game changer for JP, I can see Hitch not liking him. See how it plays out but I think they should leave him down there for a period of time to develop his game, especially if Leon stays with McDavid and Chiasson continues to play well.

 

[Studz]

Anybody who follows sports at all/has a clue knows that the world is littered with highly touted prospects that ultimately turned out to be junk, for a variety of reasons. There are literally hundred/thousands of them.

Anybody who follows sports at all knows that fans all have opinions and most have little clue what they are talking about.

 

[Joey Moss]

I don't even want to see Puljujarvi up until he's absolutely dominating over a PPG. If guys like Benson are producing PPG, I expect Puljujarvi should be a 30 point in 20 games kind of player. Don't call him up after a month like last time. Yam should be down the rest of the year no matter what IMO.

I am very interested to see how he will perform under Hitch though.

 

[North]

I don't even want to see Puljujarvi up until he's absolutely dominating over a PPG. If guys like Benson are producing PPG, I expect Puljujarvi should be a 30 point in 20 games kind of player. Don't call him up after a month like last time. Yam should be down the rest of the year no matter what IMO.

I am very interested to see how he will perform under Hitch though.

I have a feeling the plan was always to call up Puljujarvi after the 5 games in 9 nights (I think) in Bakersfield.

 

[Throttlehead]

I don't even want to see Puljujarvi up until he's absolutely dominating over a PPG. If guys like Benson are producing PPG, I expect Puljujarvi should be a 30 point in 20 games kind of player. Don't call him up after a month like last time. Yam should be down the rest of the year no matter what IMO.

I am very interested to see how he will perform under Hitch though.

You are totally underestimating Tyler Benson (guys like). Also, points in AHL don't always translate to how a player will do in the NHL.

 

[HockeyHistorian]

When did he shoot a 100 MPH slapper? Was it a skill contest where he got to run into it? Cause I believe Lucic and Laraque broke the 100 MPH barrier in skills contests, but in practical application both had highly underwhelming shots, stepping into a puck on the proverbial tee is a lot different than timing a quick cross seam pass directly into a 100 MPH one-timer that goes where you want it to go.

At least the 4th best playmaker is laughable, more like at best the 4th best or arguably the 4th best, saying atleast the 4th best playmaker implies that he is arguably or in the running to be a better playmaker than one or more of McDavid, Drai, or RNH which is far from being true, that trio is head and shoulders our 3 best forwards and each one is a quality playmaker in their own right.

I could've phrased myself more conservatively, that's on me, but I stand by what I wrote. Nobody shoots 100 mph everytime - that's just common sense. Also I rounded up from 98 mph as a 17-year old and Pulju's playmaking has always gotten less attention than I think it should.

 

[LTIR]

a few good games in the AHL doesn't make me think he is suddenly ready to be a good top 6 winger in the NHL and while I think Hitch is an upgrade on Todd I don't think it will be a game changer for JP, I can see Hitch not liking him. See how it plays out but I think they should leave him down there for a period of time to develop his game, especially if Leon stays with McDavid and Chiasson continues to play well.

If Hitch is only here for this season, should we not have him work on Puljujarvi as much as he can? Pulju needs to know that he belongs in the NHL and Hitch can put him in a spot to succeed. I say one more month in AHL and call him up after Xmas break

 

[oiler4ever]

a few good games in the AHL doesn't make me think he is suddenly ready to be a good top 6 winger in the NHL and while I think Hitch is an upgrade on Todd I don't think it will be a game changer for JP, I can see Hitch not liking him. See how it plays out but I think they should leave him down there for a period of time to develop his game, especially if Leon stays with McDavid and Chiasson continues to play well.

I totally agree with you regarding JP, but we don't know what was the verbal agreement was between him and Chia regarding the assignment. They may have conversation like, see you are going to be there for 5 games, and if you do good job during this 5 games stint and i assure you will be back...

 

[HockeyHistorian]

Based on his interviews, Hitch is all about open communication, which in my opinion should help Pulju. If he knows what he has to do, he goes and tries to do it - at least that's the impression that I have. Sure, he might struggle, but there seems to be a lot of freedom in Hitch's system too, as Hitch just said that "when you have the puck that's for you, when you don't have the puck that's for us." Pulju should thrive when he has freedom with the puck and someone just flat out tells him what to do without it. I don't think Pulju has any problems with a coach that is tough BUT fair.

Seems like McLellan wasn't really tough, but wasn't fair either - it all reeks like communication was almost non-existent. I guess McLellan is still a believer in sink or swim as a legitimate development strategy.

 

[torniojaws]

If Hitch is only here for this season, should we not have him work on Puljujarvi as much as he can? Pulju needs to know that he belongs in the NHL and Hitch can put him in a spot to succeed. I say one more month in AHL and call him up after Xmas break

Especially if (when) the Oilers miss the playoffs, they might as well call him up and play him in the 2nd line for 15 - 20 minutes a game for the rest of the season, regardless of what happens since the season is already forfeit for the team.

 

[TheNumber4]

How I see it. If this team wants to be a great team. Pulju and Yamo NEED to develop. They should be priority 1. I think Hitch if everything goes right can make us a bubble playoff team. To be the real deal we need Pulju and Yamo to step up huge.

 

[Kolja]

How I see it. If this team wants to be a great team. Pulju and Yamo NEED to develop.

I agree and it baffles me how you can misshandle a player the way Pulju has been treated. Can't phantom how short-sighted management is when you can't help an 18-year old adapt to a new system, country and language the right way. I mean what would be the cost? Very slim compared to the money we put on our 7th D or 13th F.

Amazing really. Resource management. Lern how to ******* manage your resources. Isn't that what management is supposed to do?

Lost for words.

 

[Fourier]

How I see it. If this team wants to be a great team. Pulju and Yamo NEED to develop. They should be priority 1. I think Hitch if everything goes right can make us a bubble playoff team. To be the real deal we need Pulju and Yamo to step up huge.

This is how I feel as well. These two players are key assets. The team needs to invest in them.

 

[fuswald]

This is how I feel as well. These two players are key assets. The team needs to invest in them.

I think Benson and Puljujarvi are the future, not Yamamoto he is too small.

 

[Ippenator]

I think Benson and Puljujarvi are the future, not Yamamoto he is too small.

Small wouldn’t necessarily be the problem. But in my opion it’s questionable if he is feisty enough for such a small sized player. And even though he is by no means a bad skater, I don’t see him as special enough with his skating. If you are as small as he is, you need to usually be quite feisty, and preferably you need to be an exceptional skater also. I don’t unfortunately see enough of either of those qualities in him. Some, but not enough with his small size, in my opinion.

 

[Saltcreek]

To be clear, Im not writing him off. Im hoping that he can still be a player. But its not looking good. But he has been mishandled IN REGARDS TO THEM NOT SHIPPING HIS ASS DOWN TO THE AHL for a minimum of a year and a half. But thats it imo. And the ironic thing that if he had been handled correctly (imo of course) people would have been screaming for him to come up.But you heare (anecdotally) about his act when he did get sent down , it really makes you wonder how easy of a decision that was.
But finally, I don't think hes played well at all, or shown hes very capable. And imo thats on him. And the excuses are tiresome.

Todd did everything possible to destroy Puljujarvi's confidence (not intentionally but he did it). He could play a good shift and get benched, play a bad shift and get benched, hell, Jesse could just smiled the wrong way and get benched. Now, Jesse needs to take some ownership with his development but I have seen nothing from Todd to indicate that he even tried to give the kid a chance. I would like to see Jesse play some games under Hitch just so he can get some feedback that he can work on in the AHL. I would not bring Jesse up right now but he should get a look at in the near"ish" future.

 

[Little Fury]

Small wouldn’t necessarily be the problem. But in my opion it’s questionable if he is feisty enough for such a small sized player. And even though he is by no means a bad skater, I don’t see him as special enough with his skating. If you are as small as he is, you need to usually be quite feisty, and preferably you need to be an exceptional skater also. I don’t unfortunately see enough of either of those qualities in him. Some, but not enough with his small size, in my opinion.

I just don't think he's skilled enough.

 

[Bryanbryoil]

Small wouldn’t necessarily be the problem. But in my opion it’s questionable if he is feisty enough for such a small sized player. And even though he is by no means a bad skater, I don’t see him as special enough with his skating. If you are as small as he is, you need to usually be quite feisty, and preferably you need to be an exceptional skater also. I don’t unfortunately see enough of either of those qualities in him. Some, but not enough with his small size, in my opinion.

IMO he is feisty enough but needs to be more explosive in his skating to reach his potential.

 

[Fourier]

I think Benson and Puljujarvi are the future, not Yamamoto he is too small.

I'm a big Benson fan as well. As far as Yamamoto is concerned I still think it is important that they get the most out of him they can. He's little but he is not at all afraid to go to places where good things happen.

 

[McJadeddog]

IMO he is feisty enough but needs to be more explosive in his skating to reach his potential.

This is my take as well. The *really* small guys need to have either 1) top 20% league-leading speed, or 2) top 20% league-leading shiftiness/elusiveness. Yamo has neither. He can improve both of those somewhat though, and he isn't THAT far off in those 2 respects, as his skating is a plus for sure.

I will also throw my hat in the ring of being a "Benson fan", despite what some people may think due to my past bad-mouthing him. My past problems with him were always about other peoples expectations, and they still kinda are. As long as don't expect Benson to be a top-6 player, I think you're going to be pretty happy with his development. Benson looks like a sure-fire bottom-6 winger IMO. He "plays the right way" from all accounts, and from my limited viewings of him. He's got at least passable size and speed. He has enough of a scoring touch to not disappear for 20+ games in a row. If Benson is playing on our 4th line next year, I don't think he hurts us, and he likely can end up as an average 3rd liner if things break right.

 

[agent082]

Ever wondered if it was McLellan's pizza Pulju ate?

 

[Shathar]

Pulju is looking better every game he plays down there. Last game he looked dominant. Wasn't falling all over the ice like bambi. He looked and played scary. Please let him continue to play/feel that way down there.

 

[Laodongxi]

Ever wondered if it was McLellan's pizza Pulju ate?

Todd only likes gum pizza.

 

[Porkleaker]

Todd did everything possible to destroy Puljujarvi's confidence (not intentionally but he did it). He could play a good shift and get benched, play a bad shift and get benched, hell, Jesse could just smiled the wrong way and get benched. Now, Jesse needs to take some ownership with his development but I have seen nothing from Todd to indicate that he even tried to give the kid a chance. I would like to see Jesse play some games under Hitch just so he can get some feedback that he can work on in the AHL. I would not bring Jesse up right now but he should get a look at in the near"ish" future.

He could spend the entire shift in the offensive zone and even score the GWG and ...benched. Then hand Lucic prime mins where he was on pace for 1 goal all season.
Good riddance.