Confirmed with Link: [EDM/CAR] Jesse Puljujarvi for Patrik Puistola

[Drivesaitl]

The sad aspect in pro team sports is that when the wheels completely fall off for a player the whole team has to experience that and I think it potentially impacts the moxy and feel of the room. Pulju was pretty outward about that stuff too. Would often display his frustration. But more in a head down sort of way than it producting anger and resolve. The kind of deflation that can look like losing the dream. Saw the same thing with Lucic here. He was just being an anchor around the team.

I tried to support the player the last two seasons here because I felt the player was perhaps making some inroads to having more resolve and last season was decent. But this season. Ouch. This was back to what we'd seen earlier from the player in his first stint here. The confidence again gone. At least he was hitting and trying to do something but his play with the puck and shooting and anticipation was pretty much lost.

Makes me feel somewhat good as a Drai fan as well that Leon was the last one not to give up on Jesse. He was trying for the guy, staying out on ice helping him with shots, mechanics, taking the time and trying to encourage. It just wasn't going to happen. But I liked that it was tried. It says good things about the team, its players, and even the org that they went the extra mile and tried to get Jesse past his struggles.

This was all dealt with by the org so much better than has been the case in past decades. Holland deserves credit too. When a team does this much for a player, it shows around he league. It shows we're not dicking players anymore, we're trying to help them. Kudos on the Oilers org being run the right way again.

 

[Oilers in NS]

When I watched Yak play it was like his head couldnt keep up with his body.
So instead of him driving the bus it was like the bus was driving him around...lol

I thought he was getting chased by bees

 

[guymez]

I thought he was getting chased by bees

That was a great quote by Ferraro...lol

 

[McNuge]

At this rate Jesse is going to get offers less than what Holland was willing to give him. It's a shame I think he could be a useful player in the bottom 6 if he worked on his first few steps and taking the time to learn better defensive position in his own zone.

His offensive skills and IQ are just not really there to play the game he wants to play.

 

[bobbythebrain]

At this rate Jesse is going to get offers less than what Holland was willing to give him. It's a shame I think he could be a useful player in the bottom 6 if he worked on his first few steps and taking the time to learn better defensive position in his own zone.

His offensive skills and IQ are just not really there to play the game he wants to play.

His puck protection is far more detrimental. It's what got him cut from Team Finland and it's why his AHL coach said" If JP thinks that his current puck protection is gonna cut it in the NHL, he's kidding himself"

 

[ManByng]

I see Jesse has picked up where he left off from here with 0-0-0 in 9 games with the 'Canes! How could scouts be so wrong about this guy? Did they base their opinions on just the one U20 world junior championships where he led the tournament in points? I just don't get it because he really seems like he has 2 left feet and hands of stone.

 

[McTonyBrar]

I see Jesse has picked up where he left off from here with 0-0-0 in 9 games with the 'Canes! How could scouts be so wrong about this guy? Did they base their opinions on just the one U20 world junior championships where he led the tournament in points? I just don't get it because he really seems like he has 2 left feet and hands of stone.

Plain and simple it's just hockey sense. His hockey IQ isn't very high. Teams saw the size and the tournament and got giddy. Columbus didn't.

If a player has low hockey IQ, there is a low chance you become anything close to your potential. Cogliano had low hockey sense. He had to change his game up. Gagner as well.

JP is the one who is just chugging along thinking he can be a top six forward when everyone knows he can't. He has to change his game up

 

[nabob]

Plain and simple it's just hockey sense. His hockey IQ isn't very high. Teams saw the size and the tournament and got giddy. Columbus didn't.

If a player has low hockey IQ, there is a low chance you become anything close to your potential. Cogliano had low hockey sense. He had to change his game up. Gagner as well.

JP is the one who is just chugging along thinking he can be a top six forward when everyone knows he can't. He has to change his game up

Gagner had low hockey sense?

Gagner had limited physical abilities at the NHL level. He also had limited effort at times when he signed his big (at the time) 3 year deal and the team was really bad around him.

 

[McDNicks17]

Plain and simple it's just hockey sense. His hockey IQ isn't very high. Teams saw the size and the tournament and got giddy. Columbus didn't.

If a player has low hockey IQ, there is a low chance you become anything close to your potential. Cogliano had low hockey sense. He had to change his game up. Gagner as well.

JP is the one who is just chugging along thinking he can be a top six forward when everyone knows he can't. He has to change his game up

I don't know how anyone could watch Pulju and come to that conclusion.

He pretty much plays like the farthest thing from a top6 forward. He doesn't have to change anything to be a bottom six guy.

 

[McTonyBrar]

Gagner had low hockey sense?

Gagner had limited physical abilities at the NHL level. He also had limited effort at times when he signed his big (at the time) 3 year deal and the team was really bad around him.

It wasn’t great enough to subside the physical abilities. Eberle is a good example. Very high hockey sense but small. He was able to use his sense to turn into a 20 goal scorer. This isn’t anything against Sam. He still carved out a great career has a 3rd liner/plug and play 2nd line playmaker

 

[joestevens29]

Plain and simple it's just hockey sense. His hockey IQ isn't very high. Teams saw the size and the tournament and got giddy. Columbus didn't.

If a player has low hockey IQ, there is a low chance you become anything close to your potential. Cogliano had low hockey sense. He had to change his game up. Gagner as well.

JP is the one who is just chugging along thinking he can be a top six forward when everyone knows he can't. He has to change his game up

Man you know nothing do you. Cogs didn’t have zero hockey sense if he did he wouldn’t have last how long in nhl

 

[Mr Positive]

It's not over for him. He should give another shot to the NHL. He should pick a team where he could have a bigger role and sign for cheap.

Of course he may still have time in Carolina. We'll see. I'm glad our team is ditching projects though. I'm happy that our team re signed him because he was worth another try. It didn't work out. It happens, even to great teams

 

[Spawn]

I don't know how anyone could watch Pulju and come to that conclusion.

He pretty much plays like the farthest thing from a top6 forward. He doesn't have to change anything to be a bottom six guy.

I agree. He chips pucks in. He tries to get in on the forecheck. He tries to be reliable defensively. It's not like he'd try to dangle guys or force passes. He'd never cheat for offense. If anything I think you could argue Pulju went too far the other way. He essentially stopped trying to make plays with the puck when he'd get it on his stick. It would either be a quick pass, a quick dump in or a quick shot.

I just don't think he really has it in him at the NHL level. It's all a little too quick for him and the only way he has been able to compensate is just by doing everything as simply as he can. Which doesn't work at this level. It sucks because he does genuinely seem like a good guy who wants to succeed and be a good teammate.

 

[Spawn]

Man you know nothing do you. Cogs didn’t have zero hockey sense if he did he wouldn’t have last how long in nhl

Same with Gagner lol.

These are both guys who had/have high hockey IQ but didn't have the required skills or physical attributes to be effective top 6 players and as their career progressed adapted how they played. Cogliano didn't have the puck skills/size Gagner didn't have the speed/size.

Players like them don't play well over a 1000 games in the NHL if they have low hockey sense.

 

[rec28]

Plain and simple it's just hockey sense. His hockey IQ isn't very high. Teams saw the size and the tournament and got giddy. Columbus didn't.

If a player has low hockey IQ, there is a low chance you become anything close to your potential. Cogliano had low hockey sense. He had to change his game up. Gagner as well.

JP is the one who is just chugging along thinking he can be a top six forward when everyone knows he can't. He has to change his game up

A bizarre take. Both Gagner’s and Cogliano’s hockey sense is literally the only thing that kept them in the league after the NHL exposed the limits of their physical tools (Cogs’ speed notwithstanding). They weren’t able to convert their junior success to the big leagues and instead relied on smarts and an ability to adapt in order to stick around.

 

[McDanglez]

I was rooting for PJ to succeed. But honestly, I wouldn't want him back - not even at league minimun. He is more disruptive to the play, seems to throw everything off on whichever line he is on.

 

[Tobias Kahun]

Plain and simple it's just hockey sense. His hockey IQ isn't very high. Teams saw the size and the tournament and got giddy. Columbus didn't.

If a player has low hockey IQ, there is a low chance you become anything close to your potential. Cogliano had low hockey sense. He had to change his game up. Gagner as well.

JP is the one who is just chugging along thinking he can be a top six forward when everyone knows he can't. He has to change his game up

Thanks for letting everyone how little you actually know

 

[Drivesaitl]

It wasn’t great enough to subside the physical abilities. Eberle is a good example. Very high hockey sense but small. He was able to use his sense to turn into a 20 goal scorer. This isn’t anything against Sam. He still carved out a great career has a 3rd liner/plug and play 2nd line playmaker

Gagner has 200NHL goals and 520pts. Some plug. jebus. Like I'm sure any of us can't understand how you call that guy a plug.

 

[McHelpus]

Plain and simple it's just hockey sense. His hockey IQ isn't very high. Teams saw the size and the tournament and got giddy. Columbus didn't.

If a player has low hockey IQ, there is a low chance you become anything close to your potential. Cogliano had low hockey sense. He had to change his game up. Gagner as well.

JP is the one who is just chugging along thinking he can be a top six forward when everyone knows he can't. He has to change his game up

I think a better comparison to JP is Yakupov, had the talent/tools but didn't know how to use it... maybe I'm being harsh on both players because the Oilers did them no favors in terms of helping them develop - but JP had it better than Yak.

 

[McTonyBrar]

I don't know how anyone could watch Pulju and come to that conclusion.

He pretty much plays like the farthest thing from a top6 forward. He doesn't have to change anything to be a bottom six guy.

Lol what part of his game tells you he’s cut out for a bottom six role though? He can’t win puck battles and his puck protection is awful

Gagner has 200NHL goals and 520pts. Some plug. jebus. Like I'm sure any of us can't understand how you call that guy a plug.

Plug and play 2nd/3rd liner. I didn’t mean plug Drive

Man you know nothing do you. Cogs didn’t have zero hockey sense if he did he wouldn’t have last how long in nhl

Yes I do actually lol he changed his play style. I never said he doesn’t have hockey iq. I said it wasn’t cut out for a top six role.

 

[McTonyBrar]

Thanks for letting everyone how little you actually know

Well you don’t have to believe what I thought. I could be wrong and most likely am. But, I think what keeps a player in the NHk is their hockey IQ. So I may be wrong about Cogliano and Gagner.


Tobias do you ever not try to argue with me.

You guys are probably right though, thinking back. Hockey IQ IS the reason both Cogliano and Gagner remained in the NHL so my bad. Physicality is why they couldn’t hit true potential.

My bad guys lol

 

[tiger_80]

It's deeper than that. Prime example is I watched the last 2 Carolina games w/ him and Aho.

JP was the first person off that line every shift. A few shifts easily by 30 seconds.

That screams his lack of awareness. We all know line changes are somewhat planned for icetime but ultimately the icetime of a players shift breaks down situationally. So for JP to be the first one off 99% of the time, that shows he clearly isn't on the same page as his line

A few times when Aho dumped expecting JP to chase...JP skated laterally for some reason.

JP definitely plays his own brand of hockey that even language may not resolve

I guess low hockey IQ more than anything. His physical tools are tremendous (size, skating, shooting ability). He just never developed beyond what he was when he stepped into the league, though last season was promising.

 

[Tarus]

I guess low hockey IQ more than anything. His physical tools are tremendous (size, skating, shooting ability). He just never developed beyond what he was when he stepped into the league, though last season was promising.

His physical tools are arguably among the most misleading things about him, and a major reason why he was erroneously drafted so high in his draft year aside from scouts completely missing the boat on his hockey IQ.

He's big, but he doesn't know how to use his size to protect the puck or create space for himself. He's fast, but his agility and acceleration are terrible along with a clear absence of any ability to handle the puck when skating. He has a hard shot, but he he lacks accuracy and shooting instincts to do anything other than slam the puck into the goaltender's midsection on most plays. He's a superficially talented player that lacks the finesse and skill to make him effective in the tight checking quarters of the NHL.

I highly suspect scouts saw holes in his game since they were all readily apparent in his WJC appearances too, but they were probably thinking he was a raw prospect that would develop his skill level as he matured and developed on the way to the NHL. Instead, he was a finished product with no upward potential due to his crippling lack of hockey sense when he was drafted, and now he's just another example of the big man who bullied his opponents when he played against his peers as a teenager, but was exposed once his size couldn't overwhelm his opponents anymore.

 

[Sheikyerbouti]

It's not over for him. He should give another shot to the NHL. He should pick a team where he could have a bigger role and sign for cheap.

Of course he may still have time in Carolina. We'll see. I'm glad our team is ditching projects though. I'm happy that our team re signed him because he was worth another try. It didn't work out. It happens, even to great teams

I don't know. It felt like JP never really improved at anything other than systems experience.

He might not work hard enough on skills. That clip of Drai setting him up for one timers always struck me as odd as he looked uncomfortable and awkward -- which is bizarre when you think about it. Most NHLers are taking thousand of those looks a year, like Drai does, to make game situations become muscle memory

It also looks like nobody told him puck protection was a big deal in the NHL, or more likely he hasn't really worked at it

 

[frag2]

Thanks for letting everyone how little you actually know

To be fair, I don’t know if you could really say early Cogs had hockey sense. The guy constantly couldn’t follow plays and you’d run out of fingers to count how many times the guy puts himself offside. That said, if there’s one thing he could do ultimately was adapt…something I’m not sure JP can (or willing to). Whether the latter is unwilling by self or agent, that’s not Oilers problem anymore