Take a look at the Pulj thread on the Oiler forum and you’ll see everything you need to know. The fans are pushing him out of town faster than you can blink, calling him low IQ Yakupov 2.0. Personally, I agree. I just don’t see a player with upside here. Makes stupid plays most of the time, skates like Bambi, just wildly inconsistent for his draft position and what he supposedly did before his draft.
Skating is a strong suit of Pulju and is far more solid on his skates than most players his age, he also is substantially better defensively than Yakupov and provides solid forecheck pressure.
The only edge I'd give Yak over Pulju, is I think Yak's desire to be successful was higher, but it seemed to come with a level of jittery energy where he was trying to force things and couldn't slow things down to let plays open up for him. In Yak it seemed like he'd either work out in a top 6 role or he'd wash out, Pulju has the framework of being a good roleplayer even if he does fall short of being a top 6 forward, though even as a role player his consistency needs to be elevated.
The common trait I see that runs through both is they both were very raw and neither spoke english very well at first and both frustrated our coaching staff at the speed with which they picked up concepts and made adjustments asked of them.
