Player Discussion Jesse Puljujarvi Part XII | The King of the Bison Now Needs to Conquer Goalies Too!

[Bryanbryoil]

Love the player and I feel that he will break out of his goalscoring slump soon. Hopefully the goalscoring floodgates open for him in the playoffs.

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[Drivesaitl]

1 goal since February. I could see it if it was just bad puck luck. But hes struggling with mechanics, timing and one play last week he skated onto a puck and whacked at it and the puck went between his legs. It was such an off look at this level that leads one to believe that he isn't even close to knowing where the puck is.

It gets to more than just confidence. Shooting at this level has been an area of struggle for Jesse his whole career here and I've come to be a big fan of his overall play, and defensive aspects. But he's a high #1 pick with expectations. He needs to be able to score.

The good news is it lowers contract I guess.

The bad news is I think McD is kind of in his head. Every time McD feeds him a perfect pass and he doesn't score Pulju becomes sheepish, like he's guilty, and I think mentally its weighing on him. I'm not convinced theres much mojo with him and McD. I think Drai is the better fit and more accommodating for Jesse.

 

[BoldNewLettuce]

hard to go from net front to shooter....unless you're evander kane.....not that i would know.

 

[Duke74]

1 goal since February. I could see it if it was just bad puck luck. But hes struggling with mechanics, timing and one play last week he skated onto a puck and whacked at it and the puck went between his legs. It was such an off look at this level that leads one to believe that he isn't even close to knowing where the puck is.

It gets to more than just confidence. Shooting at this level has been an area of struggle for Jesse his whole career here and I've come to be a big fan of his overall play, and defensive aspects. But he's a high #1 pick with expectations. He needs to be able to score.

The good news is it lowers contract I guess.

The bad news is I think McD is kind of in his head. Every time McD feeds him a perfect pass and he doesn't score Pulju becomes sheepish, like he's guilty, and I think mentally its weighing on him. I'm not convinced theres much mojo with him and McD. I think Drai is the better fit and more accommodating for Jesse.

Actually, I think Jesse would work best with Nuge, where he has more leeway against weaker competition. A third line of McLeod/Foegele/Holloway with RNH and Jesse could eat weaker comp alive. Besides, Nuge seems like he'd be a great mentor with his patience.

 

[MessierII]

Actually, I think Jesse would work best with Nuge, where he has more leeway against weaker competition. A third line of McLeod/Foegele/Holloway with RNH and Jesse could eat weaker comp alive. Besides, Nuge seems like he'd be a great mentor with his patience.

Trouble is then you have someone like McLeod in the top 6. No disprespect to him he’s had a great year but he’s miscast there.

 

[Duke74]

Trouble is then you have someone like McLeod in the top 6. No disprespect to him he’s had a great year but he’s miscast there.

Really? I thought McLeod looked great in his limited time with Draisaitl and I'd love to see Yamo switched out for him on that second line. I feel that his abilities are kind of buried on the fourth line but maybe he can work on a third line with Nuge.

 

[MessierII]

Really? I thought McLeod looked great in his limited time with Draisaitl and I'd love to see Yamo switched out for him on that second line. I feel that his abilities are kind of buried on the fourth line but maybe he can work on a third line with Nuge.

McLeod looked passable in that time but the problem is two fold. For one he’s going to score and create offensively even less than Jesse does. Secondly he just doesn’t do the work away from the puck at the level Jesse does.

 

[McDNicks17]

Scoring one goal in the last 15 games, while playing with the best player in the game, is not average offence though.

He's scoring at a 40 point pace under Woodcroft. I'd say that's plenty average.

Not to mention he does a ton of things to create offense that don't show up on the score sheet. Forechecking, puck retrievals, drawing defenders to the net, creating space, screens, etc.

 

[Laodongxi]

I rewatched that play where he stepped on the puck many times. He had his stick down and was skating in prepared for a pass and the pass was whipped at him right between his legs. He tried desperately to readjust to try to deflect the puck with his left leg, which was his only chance at a play and ended up stepping on the side of the puck. He made a really valiant effort for that play, which was basically impossible. That was his only play and it made him appear extremely clumsy.

I get very frustrated with some of Jesse's whiffs and blown opportunities as well, but that was not one of them. Neither was the second point blank chance he had last night in which Kuemper made an incredible last second deflection with his arm. The first point black chance Jesse had should have been an easy goal. He shot it right back into Kuemper while having a gaping cage. Even with the second one, he could have had better and faster placement but the puck was on edge which was a factor.

There is no question that Jesse needs to work very hard on his shot and other areas of his game. But he's made some good progress as well and just has so much more potential to realize.

It might take a while but he is slowly getting better for sure. I hope people give him a chance because I think it will be worth it in the long term.

 

[PulYou]

 

[Macheteops]

Trouble is then you have someone like McLeod in the top 6. No disprespect to him he’s had a great year but he’s miscast there.

He’s a better fit to me then

Trouble is then you have someone like McLeod in the top 6. No disprespect to him he’s had a great year but he’s miscast there.

What would you call Puljujarvi playing beside CMD? McLeod looks great. Liking his confidence to carry the puck. Puljujarvi shits his pants when the puck hits his stick

 

[Drivesaitl]

Actually, I think Jesse would work best with Nuge, where he has more leeway against weaker competition. A third line of McLeod/Foegele/Holloway with RNH and Jesse could eat weaker comp alive. Besides, Nuge seems like he'd be a great mentor with his patience.

Its all fair comment. As much as I bitch ass about Nuge could be better he's clearly the nicest player on the club, the one that anybody would probably be most comfortable playing with. He's that guy that you're never going to get a bad experience around. Predictable, somewhat reliable, and not prone to outbursts, whining, pointing fingers. I can see why the org likes him so much. I mean well with that.

 

[LTIR]

Its all fair comment. As much as I bitch ass about Nuge could be better he's clearly the nicest player on the club, the one that anybody would probably be most comfortable playing with. He's that guy that you're never going to get a bad experience around. Predictable, somewhat reliable, and not prone to outbursts, whining, pointing fingers. I can see why the org likes him so much. I mean well with that.

Yup, Nuge is certainly the opposite of pissy

 

[Stoneman89]

1 goal since February. I could see it if it was just bad puck luck. But hes struggling with mechanics, timing and one play last week he skated onto a puck and whacked at it and the puck went between his legs. It was such an off look at this level that leads one to believe that he isn't even close to knowing where the puck is.

It gets to more than just confidence. Shooting at this level has been an area of struggle for Jesse his whole career here and I've come to be a big fan of his overall play, and defensive aspects. But he's a high #1 pick with expectations. He needs to be able to score.

The good news is it lowers contract I guess.

The bad news is I think McD is kind of in his head. Every time McD feeds him a perfect pass and he doesn't score Pulju becomes sheepish, like he's guilty, and I think mentally its weighing on him. I'm not convinced theres much mojo with him and McD. I think Drai is the better fit and more accommodating for Jesse.

Agree with all points. I wouldn't mind if they moved him down a couple lines for a bit and let him get some confidence back playing with lesser players so he doesn't feel so much pressure having to score with McDavid's gifts.

 

[Stoneman89]

He's scoring at a 40 point pace under Woodcroft. I'd say that's plenty average.

Not to mention he does a ton of things to create offense that don't show up on the score sheet. Forechecking, puck retrievals, drawing defenders to the net, creating space, screens, etc.

Again, he has ONE goal in the last 15 games. And again, that is not average for top line player. I never questioned all the other things you mentioned, but keep moving the posts,

 

[TopShelfGloveSide]

Not sure why people get so upset about JP criticism. He’s playing good but needs to step up in the goal scoring department. That’s just a fact. Flubbing on one or multiple high danger scoring chances in a playoff game where scoring chances won’t be as often could very well cost you the game.

 

[McDNicks17]

Again, he has ONE goal in the last 15 games. And again, that is not average for top line player. I never questioned all the other things you mentioned, but keep moving the posts,

Why cherry pick 15 games? He's been average offensively this season.

It's not like he's the only guy not scoring on that line too. Kane hasn't scored a single 5v5 goal in his last 10 games.

 

[Lay Z Boy GM]

If Jesse was actually scoring along with everything else he does, he’d be getting 8x8

 

[brentashton]

If Jesse was actually scoring along with everything else he does, he’d be getting 8x8

He’d be getting Darnell cash.

 

[bellagiobob]

I've enjoyed watching the growth in his game the past couple of years. Likely won't ever be a prolific goal scorer, but a well rounded important top 6 cog.

 

[Stoneman89]

Why cherry pick 15 games? He's been average offensively this season.

It's not like he's the only guy not scoring on that line too. Kane hasn't scored a single 5v5 goal in his last 10 games.

I'm not cherry picking. I've been saying that he's been struggling to score since he came back from injury. Do you actually dispute this and call it a fallacy? But all you've done is to strawman, and point out all the other great things he's done (which I have never disputed).

 

[McSendy]

Jesse has no confidence with the puck right now... which wouldn't be a huge problem other than the fact that he rarely has confidence with the puck. There are brief periods of time when he is feeling good about his game, and he looks like a game changer, but then he quickly loses confidence and everything falls apart offensively. I'm hopeful that with experience and age he'll put it all together, but it might still be a year or two away.

 

[TopShelfGloveSide]

Why cherry pick 15 games? He's been average offensively this season.

It's not like he's the only guy not scoring on that line too. Kane hasn't scored a single 5v5 goal in his last 10 games.

Talk about cherry picking.

 

[bobbythebrain]

Can someone compile a video of him carrying the puck thru the neutral zone and gaining the ozone down low more than 10x in the last 2 years? That would be much appreciated. i mean, he is a NHL winger w/ so called speed, so highlighting a vid of him tearing thru open ice should be extremely easy? No?

Also, as someone logically mentioned. How does a guy who has such AMAZING defensive stats NOT get played on the PK, Dzone starts and last minute time, or OT? I see a shitload of Woody praises , and even crediting him for JP's play, yet he is not a player that is put out into any situation that soooooo many say he is "elite" at? Is Woody a dunce and the next "scapegoat" in this argument? Should we fire Woody for not recognizing JP's potential? Is Woody as clueless as McLellan? I mean, even Hitch spoke wildly of trying JP on the PK cuz he is a defensive dynamo, but it never happened. Is Woody stupid or something? The advanced show he is a defensive jugernaut!!


Also, why has Kane regressed in the games since JP's promotion if indeed JP makes every line even better?

Dude is up for a contract. Anybody thinking he deserves a long term contract more than 3mil a year is beyond bonkers

Oil have a big decision to make, and paying a guy a hefty cap to play "disruptor" vs a guy who makes plays on his own would be the height of stupidity imo

 

[nabob]

Wish Jesse could have converted one or more of those golden scoring chances from last game. Good news is that he’s in position to be getting those chances. a couple years ago he would have been no where near the scoring areas and just out there skating laps like Kassian does on every shift. I’d rather have a player out there creating a positive impact on almost every shift than guys who accomplish nothing. The advanced stats match the eye test.

I think it would be a smart coaching move to put him on the 3rd line with Nuge and put Yams with Connor right now.