Well….this is getting fun!
This time last week there seemed to be an aura of panic setting in among Oil Country. The team was in the midst of a 3-game losing streak and they had just been passed by their provincial rivals in the standings. The wildcard spot that they then occupied was being taken as a sign of the futility that was coming.
Not so much anymore. Since the dismal showing against the Montreal Canadiens, the team has turned around with 4-game winning streak of their own. Defeating Dallas, Boston, Vancouver, and LA in convincing fashion, it is no doubt that the Oilers are in good position to end their 11-year playoff drought come April.
However, options to improve the club still present themselves. Although you may call it foolish to mess with a lineup that has been firing on all cylinders, help is available on the farm if something goes astray. As we have learnt throughout this series, there are no shortage of options when it comes to the Oilers’ forward group.
The most skilled of these options lies in the form of Jesse Puljujarvi.
Enter Puljujarvi
The story of how Jesse Puljujarvi came to be an Edmonton Oiler is fairly well known in fan circles, as it happened so recently. Columbus passes up on JP, takes Pierre-Luc Dubois, and Peter Chiarelli races up to the podium to take the skilled Finn at #4. The story is as simple as it gets.
While the drafting of Jesse Puljujarvi was seen as a tremendous stroke of good fortune for the franchise, not much has materialized in year one. Despite making the team out of training camp and playing in 28 NHL games, the 2016 4th overall pick has only managed to put up a disappointing 8pts in that time frame. To add onto that thought, Puljujarvi was also the victim of an unfavourable strategy by the Oilers coaching staff. In an effort to help him adjust to the North American game, the team often deployed Puljujarvi in low-level roles where it was hard for him to succeed. These low minutes eventually transpired into healthy scratches and, near the end of his NHL stint, he was seeing very little game-time.
This prompted the Oilers to take the next step in the development of Puljujarvi and the team assigned him to their AHL affiliate in Bakersfield. There he was able to be a pivotal player for the Condors, being trusted with a much more important role and receiving the ice-time that he rightfully deserves. The results of this have been extremely positive.
Since his demotion to the AHL, Puljujarvi has amassed an impressive 23pts in his first 28 games with the Condors. It is no secret that he has benefited greatly from this transaction as we are finally seeing the big, strong, and agile play-maker that was advertised at last year’s draft.
A comparison you could make to Puljujarvi’s trajectory is that of Leon Draisaitl, who only scored 9pts in his first 37 NHL games. Draisaitl was then sent back to his WHL team in Kelowna where he led the Rockets to a Memorial Cup final berth and captured tournament MVP honors. Draisaitl then cemented himself as a legitimate NHLer in his second NHL season, putting up 51pts in 72 games played. Considering Puljujarvi’s skill-set, it is not completely out of the question to expect something similar.
What Role Can Puljujarvi Play Right Now?
When the Edmonton Oilers sent down Leon Draisaitl, the team was not able to call him back up. As the rules apply, once you send a player back to their junior CHL team you cannot recall them. The situation is different with Puljujarvi.
Because Puljujarvi played in the SM-Liiga, an overseas league, in his draft year, the organization is able to assign him to their AHL affiliate. This allows the Oilers the ability to call him up and send them down whenever need be. With the Oilers being in prime position to make the playoffs for the first time in 11 years, the possibility of calling up Jesse Puljujarvi to help aid in forward depth offers up an intriguing proposition.
Currently, the Oilers offer RW spots to the following players:
- Leon Draisaitl
- Jordan Eberle
- Zack Kassian
- Drake Caggiula
- Anton Slepyshev
That is quite the impressive list of players and it doesn’t even include other players such as Iiro Pakarinen or Justin Fontaine. However, the thing that sticks out for me is the fact that Puljujarvi is more skilled that 3 of those 5 players. While they might beat him in regards to NHL experience, which is an important factor to take into account, it cannot be denied that Puljujarvi does possess a higher skillset than that of Kassian, Caggiula, and Slepyshev. He could easily fit into the #3 RW spot.
If we are serious about bringing up Puljujarvi, we have to factor in the player that needs to be taken out of the lineup.
Right off the bat I would leave Zack Kassian in the lineup. His NHL experience and high energy style of play is something that every aspiring playoff team wants in their lineup. To be honest, it might not be in the Oilers’ best interests to bring him up right now.
As I discussed in my Caggiula article recently, I believe that the Edmonton Oilers should seriously consider sending Caggiula to the farm for the time being. He is a very skilled young player that has held his own but, time on the farm could do some serious good to his development. However, this would seem like more of a sideways move for the Oilers at the moment. Why replace a rookie skater with another rookie skater? Sure, Puljujarvi is more skilled but this is the very spot that the Oilers deployed him to start the year, and we all know how that ended up.
No matter where you put him in that bottom 6, cause he won’t be replacing Draisaitl or Eberle, it seems like you will be taking out a player who is better suited than Puljujarvi to play that role. He is a skilled young player that needs time with other skilled players before he can tow his own line. We seen this with Draisaitl and Hall…and we should see this with Puljujarvi and someone else. Patience is key with Jesse Puljujarvi, we shouldn’t rush him when we have no reason to.
Conclusion:
The only way I see Puljujarvi in Oiler threads this season is in the event of an injury to one of Caggiula, Slepyshev, or Kassian. He provides some awesome injury insurance. Otherwise, it would be wise to leave him on the farm to develop further.
That concludes my Joys of Forward Depth series! I hope you enjoyed it!
To read all the other editions of this series, click on one of the links below:
The Joys of Forward Depth: Realization
The Joys of Forward Depth: Drake Caggiula
The Joys of Forward Depth: Anton Slepyshev
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