What's the major issue limiting Puljujärvi?

[BL92]

Now, I love Puljujärvi and his chirpy attitude and I really want him to live up to the hype and succeed. I think he can still do that, he is only 19 after all.

However, he has seemed to struggle for most of this season. Granted, it's very rare for a person to be NHL ready at his age, especially if they're from outside North America and don't speak English fluently, which is the case with Puljujärvi. He did better in the AHL but didn't really dominate, as some expected. This could be because of poor quality teammates however. He has also been quite invisible in the WC this year, he doesn't really make any bad plays but he simply seems to vanish whenever he is on ice. Handles the puck like a live grenade, as one poster pointed out.

What do you think is the major problem for Puljujärvi? Do you think he'll become the player he was projected to be?

At this point I still think it's purely mental, his season has been very hectic and obviously it draining when you have to adapt to a new culture and language. Luckily his English has seemed to improve, it's still quite crude but at least he can get the point across. I think he'll be better prepared when next season.

A sample of his current English skills: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QmDcsSGT6VM

Click to read more...

 

[jw2]

Let him develop properly. They have a talented roster and he's not forced to be a go to guy, ala Hall, RNH, Yakupov. He's only 19. Maybe it will be an issue when he's 23, but that's years away.

 

[weaponomega]

He just wasn't ready to play at the NHL level this season. I did think the Oilers rushed him, and maybe they thought they would need him more than they did. If they are patient, let him develop and regain his confidence he'll be a good one.

 

[JetsHomer]

He's 19...

 

[tfong]

Maturity. He got all the tools and I feel has the IQ for good stuff. Just don't rush him and let him learn properly.

 

[oXo Cube]

He was the youngest player in the league at every level he played at this year.

His major issue is a combination of lack of patience and lofty expectations from fans.

 

[teravaineSAROS]

It's a very psychological matter. Pulju doesnt have the experience of dealing with adversity.

He was the guy playing in the WJCs for team Finland at 16 while Laine wasn't there yet (Laine who dealt with the adversity of his skating issues and people questioning his attitude), he was the guy winning the MVP in their gold medal WJC year and had just been smooth sailing through it all.

So what we're seeing here is a a kid being thrown into the deep waters before he ever got the chance to struggle his way into learning how to swim; he's just splashing around hoping he'll survive.

 

[Aceboogie]

It's a very psychological matter. Pulju doesnt have the experience of dealing with adversity.

He was the guy playing in the WJCs for team Finland at 16 while Laine wasn't there yet (Laine who dealt with the adversity of his skating issues and people questioning his attitude), he was the guy winning the MVP in their gold medal WJC year and had just been smooth sailing through it all.

So what we're seeing here is a a kid being thrown into the deep waters before he ever got the chance to struggle his way into learning how to swim; he's just splashing around hoping he'll survive.

Well he did literally just get sent to AHL in order to learn to swim...

 

[deckercky]

Clearly he is a bust.

 

[vsove]

He's looking a lot like Draisatl at the same point in his career, with the added disadvantage of struggling with English. He needs patience, which, fortunately, our GM actually seems to have for once.

Needs to adjust to the game and then needs to improve his English so he can better communicate with his coaching staff.

 

[kmo429]

Not that he cant be special, but it takes a certain type of special to come into the NHL as a rookie 18/19 year old and produce right away. Matthews/Laine are ezceptions. After the first 2/3 picks it's even more rare. Just a couple players off the top of my head that weren't stars right away but developed properly and broke out just this year were Mikael Granlund and Mark Scheifele. Feel liek Zibanejad on the Rangers will be in the same kidn of boat next year. 6th overall pick, has been good but hasn't broken out yet, but given his second half and playoffs, Im sure he'll become a 25-40-65 guy next year at the minimum. Puljujarvi won't be a star next year, maybe not the year after, but if developed properly I expect him to hit his stride around 22 years old. He'll live up to the hype, just not right away

 

[David Bruce Banner]

Clearly he is a bust.

Yes, clearly. Now trade him to the Canucks for Tanev.

 

[DJJones]

Christ, people are freaking out that foreign teenagers aren't dominating grown men.

Give him a few years.

 

[tigervixxxen]

He's young yada yada and all that but hockey sense

 

[BL92]

Clearly he is a bust.

It's okay. We're aware that Canucks have plenty of those. Damn, Virtanen must hurt .

 

[ijuka]

I've been saying this for well over a year and it still is the same thing: Lack of hockey IQ. Both with and without the puck. He's not able to use his physical assets and skill to be effective due to a lack of hockey IQ, and perhaps IQ in general.

He often is floating outside the play but it does seem like he still is trying. He's just doing incorrect things. He very rarely actually takes part in the play, at least at a high level(NHL and even international). And with the puck, his decision making is questionable as well. He also lacks the sort of trickery one would use to fool defenders, doesn't really cause them the trouble that he could with his assets, and so forth. We could go into quite a bit of detail with this, but the easiest way to see this was when he was playing Liiga on the same line with Sebastian Aho. It was visible in u-20s as well but his scoring success there makes it more difficult for many to concentrate on his faults, I guess.

Now, this doesn't mean that he's going to be a bust but this is the biggest issue with him, to answer the question of the thread.

He's young yada yada and all that but hockey sense

He's young but Sebastian Aho who's a second round pick with far inferior physical assets in every manner was far more successful at a younger age, at least internationally. And it's easy to argue that his Liiga season was better than Puljujärvi's AHL season.

 

[SEALBound]

Always interesting to see how certain guys make the jump. When I watched him and Laine I knew these were two top 3 picks (should have been).

However, Laine makes the jump and is damn near ROTY, Puljujarvi is in the minors. Crazy.

 

[Spartachat]

Put him on the 4th line with grinders for 8 minutes a game. If he can't score at a rate of 0.5 points per game trade him for a 3rd round pick.

 

[83to48]

Pool Party has the tools and size to get it done at the NHL level, just needs to clamp down like Leon did in his draft +1 offseason and work his ass off at puckhandling and accuracy shooting.

If you have ever been to a foreign speaking country you know how hard it is as well to communicate with people. And then on top of that being 18 with no family or old friends around. Not really conducive to fostering a huge growth in development. Once he's comfortable with english and get's used to a smaller ice I think he's a dependable top sixer. His reach is very impressive and he should in time get better on the boards and shielding players on the cycle.

 

[displacedsabre]

For real, him and Alex Nylander should just quit now to save any further embarrassment.

 

[BL92]

I've been saying this for well over a year and it still is the same thing: Lack of hockey IQ. Both with and without the puck. He's not able to use his physical assets and skill to be effective due to a lack of hockey IQ, and perhaps IQ in general.

He often is floating outside the play but it does seem like he still is trying. He's just doing incorrect things. He very rarely actually takes part in the play, at least at a high level(NHL and even international). And with the puck, his decision making is questionable as well. He also lacks the sort of trickery one would use to fool defenders, doesn't really cause them the trouble that he could with his assets, and so forth. We could go into quite a bit of detail with this, but the easiest way to see this was when he was playing Liiga on the same line with Sebastian Aho. It was visible in u-20s as well but his scoring success there makes it more difficult for many to concentrate on his faults, I guess.

Now, this doesn't mean that he's going to be a bust but this is the biggest issue with him, to answer the question of the thread.



He's young but Sebastian Aho who's a second round pick with far inferior physical assets in every manner was far more successful at a younger age, at least internationally. And it's easy to argue that his Liiga season was better than Puljujärvi's AHL season.

That's a sound argument. What surprises me is that his hockey IQ was in fact rated high before the draft. Obviously one cannot put up points like he did if they're complete tools. It could be that his hockey IQ simply isn't on the level it needs to be at the current moment and he needs to learn how to play in a small rink. It's just odd since he sometimes looks so lost in the WC, even though he's playing on a big rink. This leads me to believe that the majority of his issues are mental.

I don't think he's a bust either. He has tremendous potential.

 

[supeg93*]

He turned 19 a week ago. He was 18 the whole hockey season, youngest in NHL and youngest in AHL.

He will be like Drai and need to develop. Look at Drai now, he is a top 10 Center in the league and 21.

 

[ijuka]

That's a sound argument. What surprises me is that his hockey IQ was in fact rated high before the draft. Obviously one cannot put up points like he did if they're complete tools. It could be that his hockey IQ simply isn't on the level it needs to be at the current moment and he needs to learn how to play in a small rink. It's just odd since he sometimes looks so lost in the WC, even though he's playing on a big rink. This leads me to believe that the majority of his issues are mental.

I don't think he's a bust either. He has tremendous potential.

People rating his hockey IQ so high probably concentrated more on what he did correctly rather than things that he did incorrectly which is a very common phenomenon.

Something to note is that he completely dominated at Finnish u-20 leagues. For instance, scoring at 1.28 PPG in there as a 15-year-old. Laine had the all-time record for goals in that league with 26 in 40 at that age. Puljujärvi scored 12 goals in 18 games, which is a higher pace over 40 games. He also paced for far more assists.

While I think that he was the weakest member of his line at u-20s and got some fluke points, he also didn't play all that poorly. Maybe there's something about the junior hockey where the junior players don't yet know how to deal with him, but when you know how it becomes very easy? Kind of like an on and off switch. He did make numerous mistakes but didn't get punished as badly for them for some reason. Probably a combination of less experienced opponents and Laine and Aho as linemates.

 

[A91]

Why is this on the mains?
People are so impatient.
First the Oilers rush their players, no we don't give them a chance. Come on

 

[leafsfan1234]

He's basically a bigger Nail Yakupov, nice tools but no brain.