The Pittsburgh Penguins have signed right winger Jesse Puljujarvi of Alvkarleby, Sweden. The contract, which was signed on Sunday, was for two years, and worth $1.6 million. The Penguins are the third National Hockey League team Puljujarvi has played for. He spent six seasons with the Edmonton Oilers from 2016 to 2023, and one season with the Carolina Hurricanes in 2023.
2022-23 NHL Statistics
Last season, Puljujarvi split his time with the Hurricanes and Oilers. He was traded by the Oilers to the Hurricanes for right winger Patrik Puistiola of Tampere, Finland on February 28, 2023. In 75 games, Puljujarvi had five goals and 11 assists for 16 points. He was a -13 with 32 penalty minutes, one game-winning goal, 125 shots on goal, 26 blocked shots, 139 hits, 24 takeaways, and 20 giveaways.
Puljujarvi’s game-winning goal came in a 6-3 Oilers win over the Ottawa Senators on February 11. He scored from defensemen Brett Kulak of Edmonton, Alberta, and Darnell Nurse of Hamilton, Ontario. Puljujarvi’s goal came at 3:05 of the third period, and put the Oilers up 4-3 at the time.
Junior Star
As a junior hockey player in Finland, Puljujarvi performed admirably. At the 2016 World Junior Hockey Championships, he was spetacular, with five goals and 12 assists for 17 points. It was the second most number of points a player has scored under the age of 18 at the World Junior Hockey Championship. The only player with more was Pittsburgh Penguins legendary forward Jaromir Jagr of Kladno, Czech Republic, who had 18 points in 1990. Puljujarvi also became the first player to win the World Under-18 Championship and World Junior Hockey Championship in the same year (2016),
Underperformed at NHL level
It is fair to say that Puljujarvi has not met expectations at the NHL level. He only has 114 points in 334 games. He was selected fourth overall by the Oilers in the 2016 NHL Entry Draft, only behind Auston Matthews of the Toronto Maple Leafs, Patrik Laine of the Winnipeg Jets, and Pierre-Luc Dubois of the Columbus Blue Jackets.
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