Player Discussion Jesse Puljujärvi 4th Overall 2016 Draft.

[Vanqu1sh]

It really was a minor miracle (and we know what the major one was).

I had him ahead of Laine. I definitely would say he fits our needs better than Laine, although having Laine next to McDavid would have been sweet. Puljujarvi has crazy speed, size, two way play, and he is a good offensive player as well. He'll be our Landeskog.

As it stands right now I think Laine is an even better fit with Mcdavid, but Pulju is obviously a great fit as well. It's hard to be disappointed with a Landeskog but I have even higher hopes than that, hopefully my dreams are not crushed

 

[ijuka]

that is not true. Yes, there is a limit to how sheltered he could really get, but at home games we get last change so we pick who he plays against. We also can always pick which zones he plays his minutes in. There's lots of ways that we can and will shelter McDavid.

Why, just why would you shelter McDavid? No one in NHL can shut McDavid down. All other lines can be shut down by the top pairing.

It makes absolutely no sense to "shelter" your best player. The best player plays the toughest matchups. He wins them and thus gives room for the rest of the team to perform.

McDavid is one of the absolute best 1Cs in the league. No one shelters their 1C. His age is irrelevant. Crosby is the only active center you can compare him to.


As for Puljujärvi, I'm hoping he gets to play with McDavid sooner rather than later. Maybe not right away but towards the end of the season I'd like to see it happen.

As it stands right now I think Laine is an even better fit with Mcdavid, but Pulju is obviously a great fit as well. It's hard to be disappointed with a Landeskog but I have even higher hopes than that, hopefully my dreams are not crushed

Actually, because McDavid is a leftie, I think that Puljujärvi is a better pairing for him than Laine. Edmonton got the best possible prospect of the draft, in my opinion. Exactly who they should have wanted. How often does that happen with a #4 overall pick?

 

[Mr Positive]

Why, just why would you shelter McDavid? No one in NHL can shut McDavid down. All other lines can be shut down by the top pairing.

It makes absolutely no sense to "shelter" your best player. The best player plays the toughest matchups. He wins them and thus gives room for the rest of the team to perform.

McDavid is one of the absolute best 1Cs in the league. No one shelters their 1C. His age is irrelevant. Crosby is the only active center you can compare him to.

remember what sheltering really is. All it means is putting a player in the offensive zone more, giving them PP time, and putting them up against weak opposition when you can. Those are things we want to do for McDavid because doing that will maximize our offense. It's what McLellan did last year. I don't expect a quantum shift this year.

And no, we should not treat McDavid as if he is a perfect player who can absorb any punishment we can give him. He quite possibly can, that shouldn't be our plan going into next season. He's still a a teenager for crying out loud. Just like how his faceoff percentage is bad, he likely has subtle flaws associated with inexperience.

The focus of this team should be winning games, but almost as importantly, we should be supporting McDavid. That probably was a huge factor in how aggressive Chiarelli was this offseason. The Lucic addition was likely made specifically to have nuclear solution for a physical/protection winger for McDavid. Quite possibly, we did not trade Eberle because he is a good fit for McDavid. The Larsson trade had to be made NOW because we have McDavid on his ELC, so we had to accept losing on trade value. McDavid is the centerpiece of this team, and a huge part of that is recognizing that even though he is already great, he is not finished developing.

 

[Oilerglory]

It really was a minor miracle (and we know what the major one was).

I had him ahead of Laine. I definitely would say he fits our needs better than Laine, although having Laine next to McDavid would have been sweet. Puljujarvi has crazy speed, size, two way play, and he is a good offensive player as well. He'll be our Landeskog.

I agree with all of this except for the comparison,Landeskog is nothing like Puljujarvi. Very different players.

 

[kelsier]

I would rather look up at Kovalchuk than Landeskog if you wanted a player comparison. Jesse doesn't possess the kind of sniping ability as Kovalchuk, nor does he have the mean streak of either of the two, but he could end up something similar if all goes well (maybe a mix of Wheeler and Kovy f.ex). Puljujärvi was always considered to be a big goal scorer while developing and I'm hoping that he continues to excel in that department, while he already has pretty good playmaking abilities. If he had Laine's goal scoring ability, Kovalchuk would be close to perfect comparison, but it's hard to find pairs for these guys from the recent players of these last decades. Still funny to think back when he made an entrance to last year's U18 and just killed it while being all-around injured. While he may not be as skilled as Laine, he has some serious warrior mentality and those type of players are just awesome. A jackpot for someone who drafts this guy at 4th.

I guess drafting Jesse made trading Hall possible looking at the big picture. Also apparently Dubois hasn't quite impressed in the summer U20 tournament so I wonder if Jarmo is feeling the heat under the seat at the moment.

 

[McOvechking]

Why, just why would you shelter McDavid? No one in NHL can shut McDavid down. All other lines can be shut down by the top pairing.

It makes absolutely no sense to "shelter" your best player. The best player plays the toughest matchups. He wins them and thus gives room for the rest of the team to perform.

McDavid is one of the absolute best 1Cs in the league. No one shelters their 1C. His age is irrelevant. Crosby is the only active center you can compare him to.


As for Puljujärvi, I'm hoping he gets to play with McDavid sooner rather than later. Maybe not right away but towards the end of the season I'd like to see it happen.



Actually, because McDavid is a leftie, I think that Puljujärvi is a better pairing for him than Laine. Edmonton got the best possible prospect of the draft, in my opinion. Exactly who they should have wanted. How often does that happen with a #4 overall pick?

Agreed. Don't let this spill out to the mainboard - but I'd rather Puljujarvi over Matthews at this point. He fits our needs so perfectly it's hilarious. Big, strong, 2-way forward, RW, incredible speed, great hands, can make plays, already has the best shot on our team.

What's not to be excited about.

 

[ohheyhemsky]

Agreed. Don't let this spill out to the mainboard - but I'd rather Puljujarvi over Matthews at this point. He fits our needs so perfectly it's hilarious. Big, strong, 2-way forward, RW, incredible speed, great hands, can make plays, already has the best shot on our team.

What's not to be excited about.

Right shot*

Can't be forgotten. We badly needed a right shot to set up on the left half-boards on the PP, and for better symmetry for our forward lines.

I'd rather Laine still at this point, but for our needs, I definitely agreed Pulju over Matthews for the Oil.

 

[djdub]

Right shot*

Can't be forgotten. We badly needed a right shot to set up on the left half-boards on the PP, and for better symmetry for our forward lines.

I'd rather Laine still at this point, but for our needs, I definitely agreed Pulju over Matthews for the Oil.

I don't agree.

Because if we had won the Mathews lottery, that pick would have been traded to Arizona for OEL.

Then we could have afforded to include Klef in trade with Montreal (Which I believe was holding up negotiations). A Hall + Klef for Subban trade instead of the NJD trade could have been made.

OEL - Fayne
Sekera - Subban
Nurse - Davidson

Or you could run a top pairing of Subban and OEL which would be amazing, especially on the PP.

All of a sudden we have a top 5 NHL D corps.

 

[BB88]

Right shot*

Can't be forgotten. We badly needed a right shot to set up on the left half-boards on the PP, and for better symmetry for our forward lines.

I'd rather Laine still at this point, but for our needs, I definitely agreed Pulju over Matthews for the Oil.

I prefer Pulju over Laine for Edmonton, and Laine over Pulju for Winnipeg.

Pulju is someone who can skate with McDavid, no one has an answer to the pace they can(potentially) play, and Pulju brings that important 2way game that I think every successfull team needs.
I'm looking at Hossa and his importance for Chicago during these Cup runs.

 

[McFlyingV]

I prefer Pulju over Laine for Edmonton, and Laine over Pulju for Winnipeg.

Pulju is someone who can skate with McDavid, no one has an answer to the pace they can(potentially) play, and Pulju brings that important 2way game that I think every successfull team needs.
I'm looking at Hossa and his importance for Chicago during these Cup runs.

I kind of agree the more I think about it. Hossa seems like a good comparable for Jesse, and I even see a good possibility that he could run his own line away from McDavid. Could be exactly what Draisaitl or Nuge needs on the 2nd line and I especially see him working well with Draisaitl because he's fast and can carry the puck backing off defences like Hall did, but he can also take one-timers off the left side from Drai considering that Drai usually likes to pass off the right side of the ice. Also, that duo has great potential as a big cycle 2-way line as I think that Draisaitl projects to be a 2-way possession monster who is good in the face-off circle once he matures. Style wise it could be comparable to the Hossa-Toews pair that Chicago has often ran with the elite offensive player (McDavid) running the other top line like Kane did.

Laine to me is more comparable to a James Neal who will look best when paired with an elite playmaker like Malkin, while being able to play a great possession game down low opening up space to unload his shot. Unless his skating improves quite a bit I can't see him being the one who runs his line, but rather the sniper who does a lot of good things to open up space in the offensive zone for his line mates. Thats the one reason I don't like the Ovechkin comparisons because aside from his shot he is nowhere near as fast or as skilled with the puck as Ovechkin and he doesn't have the frame yet (and may never) that Ovi has to throw huge hits. I could honestly see him being a good fit with Wheeler or even a guy like Connor or Ehlers if they pan out. Scheifele to me doesn't have the elite playmaking that would compliment Laine, but if Wheeler was also on the line it might be a nice fit.

 

[McOvechking]

tbh, I never fully understood the hype around Laine. Great great shot, no question. But he just didn't ever wow me the way Puljujarvi did.

 

[Vanqu1sh]

tbh, I never fully understood the hype around Laine. Great great shot, no question. But he just didn't ever wow me the way Puljujarvi did.

He has a better shot, and he's better at using it. Definitely more of a sniper at this point than Pulju. Better hands, more poise with the puck, more physical. He's smoother and more consistent in the offensive zone. He looks more polished and ready to produce at a more advanced level IMO.

I'd only give Pulju the edge in skating, and he has that x-factor of just having a non-stop motor. Reports are that Pulju is slightly more advanced and perhaps more defensively conscious than Laine but that's just me reading not seeing.

He's still a dynamic player who truly has all of the tools - Laine will never have his skating and if Pulju can polish up his game it's one thing that could set them apart.

 

[Draiskull]

tbh, I never fully understood the hype around Laine. Great great shot, no question. But he just didn't ever wow me the way Puljujarvi did.

Pretty sure he Wow'd everyone else a WHC..
Why not give the credit where its due... Laine will be a beast for the Jets for many yrs to come..

" I never fully understood the hype around McDavid. Great speed, no question. But he just didn't ever wow me the way Gaudreau did."
-imaginary Flames fan

Lets be better than this made up flames fan

 

[Mr Positive]

He has a better shot, and he's better at using it. Definitely more of a sniper at this point than Pulju. Better hands, more poise with the puck, more physical. He's smoother and more consistent in the offensive zone. He looks more polished and ready to produce at a more advanced level IMO.

I'd only give Pulju the edge in skating, and he has that x-factor of just having a non-stop motor. Reports are that Pulju is slightly more advanced and perhaps more defensively conscious than Laine but that's just me reading not seeing.

He's still a dynamic player who truly has all of the tools - Laine will never have his skating and if Pulju can polish up his game it's one thing that could set them apart.

It is very fair to say Puljujarvi is better in the defensive zone than Laine. That's Puljujarvi's defining trait in terms of style of play. Laine is better in the offensive zone. Laine will mostly be a power play threat. Puljujarvi will be a 5 on 5 player used a lot on the PK. I'm not sure how you would give the physical edge the Laine. Puljujarvi is known to use his size to his advantage in all aspects. I don't know if either ever fight, but I would guess they don't.

I think people mostly wanted Laine because our PP is bad, but imo Puljujarvi is still better for us. Our PP didn't need Laine to be better. It needed a better defense to move the puck at the point better and get shots through. As a long term prospect, Puljujarvi will be a player who does a lot of heavy lifting. Our team is loaded with players who can find the back of the net. They have had trouble scoring, but with a player like Puljujarvi, a lot more of their offense will be unlocked.

 

[booyakasha]

Pretty sure he Wow'd everyone else a WHC..
Why not give the credit where its due... Laine will be a beast for the Jets for many yrs to come..

" I never fully understood the hype around McDavid. Great speed, no question. But he just didn't ever wow me the way Gaudreau did."
-imaginary Flames fan

Lets be better than this made up flames fan

That's something Whiskeyourthedevil would post, no lie.

 

[McDoused]

I like how worried some people are still worried about our wingers. We are still stacked up front even without Hall.

 

[BoldNewLettuce]

I like how worried some people are still worried about our wingers. We are still stacked up front even without Hall.

Our wingers were putrid last year.

 

[ijuka]

It is very fair to say Puljujarvi is better in the defensive zone than Laine. That's Puljujarvi's defining trait in terms of style of play. Laine is better in the offensive zone. Laine will mostly be a power play threat. Puljujarvi will be a 5 on 5 player used a lot on the PK. I'm not sure how you would give the physical edge the Laine. Puljujarvi is known to use his size to his advantage in all aspects. I don't know if either ever fight, but I would guess they don't.

Most of this is rather inaccurate.

First of all, Puljujärvi being good in the defensive zone / it being his defining trait in terms of style of play doesn't match what I've seen at all in both u-20s as well as Kärpät. He doesn't float around and does defend but he's not a defense-first player and actually has had some issues with overattacking.

Secondarily, Puljujärvi actually isn't very known for using his size to his advantage very well. If we compare how much Laine hits with how much Puljujärvi hits, for instance, Laine comes far ahead. Puljujärvi is significantly ahead in fitness, endurance and the like but it's not exactly accurate to say that "Puljujärvi is known to use his size to his advantage in all aspects". That's one of the aspects of his play that he certainly needs to improve in, after all.

 

[Staghorn]

It is very fair to say Puljujarvi is better in the defensive zone than Laine. That's Puljujarvi's defining trait in terms of style of play. Laine is better in the offensive zone. Laine will mostly be a power play threat. Puljujarvi will be a 5 on 5 player used a lot on the PK. I'm not sure how you would give the physical edge the Laine. Puljujarvi is known to use his size to his advantage in all aspects. I don't know if either ever fight, but I would guess they don't.

I think people mostly wanted Laine because our PP is bad, but imo Puljujarvi is still better for us. Our PP didn't need Laine to be better. It needed a better defense to move the puck at the point better and get shots through. As a long term prospect, Puljujarvi will be a player who does a lot of heavy lifting. Our team is loaded with players who can find the back of the net. They have had trouble scoring, but with a player like Puljujarvi, a lot more of their offense will be unlocked.

Let's hope he doesn't fight. 95% of NHL fights are a joke, not worth the injuries. Fighting will be gone in a few years, barely a factor now.

 

[Draiskull]

Our wingers were putrid last year.

Because of injuries. We had to play Purcell\Hendricks\Klinkhammer on the top line because Ebs was injured and there was no one else .. Eberle is healthy and we have Kassian and Puljujarvi for the right side and Maroon, Lucic, Pouliot on the left side.

Lucic - Eberle
Pouliot - Puljujarvi
Maroon - Yak
Hendricks - Kassian


I think we will be fine if there arent many injuries.


Puljujarvi is coming in at a great time.. There are so many other distractions and shiny toys next season that he can just find himself a spot sneakily.

New arena, McDavid, Lucic, Larsson will take a lot of attention away from Puljujarvi.. Low expectations from a potential franchise level player in a place like Edmonton would be rare.

 

[Mr Positive]

Most of this is rather inaccurate.

First of all, Puljujärvi being good in the defensive zone / it being his defining trait in terms of style of play doesn't match what I've seen at all in both u-20s as well as Kärpät. He doesn't float around and does defend but he's not a defense-first player and actually has had some issues with overattacking.

Secondarily, Puljujärvi actually isn't very known for using his size to his advantage very well. If we compare how much Laine hits with how much Puljujärvi hits, for instance, Laine comes far ahead. Puljujärvi is significantly ahead in fitness, endurance and the like but it's not exactly accurate to say that "Puljujärvi is known to use his size to his advantage in all aspects". That's one of the aspects of his play that he certainly needs to improve in, after all.

my viewings are very limited. I am going by some highlights, but mostly on what's been written by others. Although, I must say that you saying this made me google this and I did find a couple places that said he has to work on his defensive play, but that might be due to a few showings like in that tournament, and I would guess that maybe he was cheating for offense to get attention of scouts for the draft.

I see source after source touting Puljujarvi's two way play and defense zone play. Here's a thorough one: http://www.thehockeynews.com/blog/p...sumed-no-2-and-3-picks-stack-up-in-key-areas/

There were many others like that I could post. I would ask you that since Puljujarvi and Laine were evenly ranked for most of the year, and that Laine is clearly superior in offense, then what exactly do you think is Puljujarvi's advantage over Laine?

 

[BB88]

I kind of agree the more I think about it. Hossa seems like a good comparable for Jesse, and I even see a good possibility that he could run his own line away from McDavid. Could be exactly what Draisaitl or Nuge needs on the 2nd line and I especially see him working well with Draisaitl because he's fast and can carry the puck backing off defences like Hall did, but he can also take one-timers off the left side from Drai considering that Drai usually likes to pass off the right side of the ice. Also, that duo has great potential as a big cycle 2-way line as I think that Draisaitl projects to be a 2-way possession monster who is good in the face-off circle once he matures. Style wise it could be comparable to the Hossa-Toews pair that Chicago has often ran with the elite offensive player (McDavid) running the other top line like Kane did.

Laine to me is more comparable to a James Neal who will look best when paired with an elite playmaker like Malkin, while being able to play a great possession game down low opening up space to unload his shot. Unless his skating improves quite a bit I can't see him being the one who runs his line, but rather the sniper who does a lot of good things to open up space in the offensive zone for his line mates. Thats the one reason I don't like the Ovechkin comparisons because aside from his shot he is nowhere near as fast or as skilled with the puck as Ovechkin and he doesn't have the frame yet (and may never) that Ovi has to throw huge hits. I could honestly see him being a good fit with Wheeler or even a guy like Connor or Ehlers if they pan out. Scheifele to me doesn't have the elite playmaking that would compliment Laine, but if Wheeler was also on the line it might be a nice fit.

I think we may have talked about it earlier too, and Dra is a extremely talented player and wouldn't be mad if he ends up being Puljus longterm linemate, and on the pp they use McDavid-Pulju.


But looking at it a bit differently,
if Dra develops as you hope couldn't he also be given his own line to run in 2-3 years and have the 2 elite 2way forwards on different lines, creating more match up difficulties?

McDavid-Pulju has the potential to create the best line in hockey, coaches dream and an absolute nightmare to match up against.
Then with Dra and RNH could ice 3 lines with size, 2way game and scoring.
Best line in hockey+ 2 high end 2nd lines.

In this lineup I have in mind Lucic is dropped to 2nd line with Dra in 2-3 years time.
But again if Pulju and Dra becomes the new Toews- Hossa of the World I won't complain just thinking different lineups and I'm sure the management has thought about playing McDavid and Pulju together.

It is very fair to say Puljujarvi is better in the defensive zone than Laine. That's Puljujarvi's defining trait in terms of style of play. Laine is better in the offensive zone. Laine will mostly be a power play threat. Puljujarvi will be a 5 on 5 player used a lot on the PK. I'm not sure how you would give the physical edge the Laine. Puljujarvi is known to use his size to his advantage in all aspects. I don't know if either ever fight, but I would guess they don't.

I think people mostly wanted Laine because our PP is bad, but imo Puljujarvi is still better for us. Our PP didn't need Laine to be better. It needed a better defense to move the puck at the point better and get shots through. As a long term prospect, Puljujarvi will be a player who does a lot of heavy lifting. Our team is loaded with players who can find the back of the net. They have had trouble scoring, but with a player like Puljujarvi, a lot more of their offense will be unlocked.

Laine plays more physical game than Pulju, the bigger the game the more physical he seemed to be this year.

Laine deserved to go before Pulju in this draft, he ended the season with 2 MVP titles and what he did in the Liiga playoffs was simply amazing, can say he carried his team to championship.
Difficult to ask more from a prospect.
I really wanted to see if/how Pulju could have matched that, they battled throughout the year constantly changing places.

 

[Mr Positive]

Laine deserved to go before Pulju in this draft, he ended the season with 2 MVP titles and what he did in the Liiga playoffs was simply amazing, can say he carried his team to championship.
Difficult to ask more from a prospect.
I really wanted to see if/how Pulju could have matched that, they battled throughout the year constantly changing places.

I can agree that Laine deserved to go before Puljujarvi but c'mon, that's not exactly fair. It's not like Laine went head to head with Puljujarvi and Laine came on top. It was more like Laine did very well and Puljujarvi got injured. If we're talking about them in terms of their skills, there is plenty of room for debate about which is better in which way. To me it's kind of like Hall vs Seguin. They were also evenly ranked in the season leading to the playoffs. Hall deserved to go 1st overall, but he got to be on a stacked Windsor squad, one that allowed Hall to distinguish himself. Seguin was on a worse team so he got knocked out of the playoffs early and couldn't prove himself. And yet, as of today Seguin is ranked ahead of Hall.

 

[Draiskull]

I think we are being unfair to Puljujarvi by bringing in Laine into discussion. If you want to compare then compare him to Tkachuk .. A forward the Oilers were targetting before the Pulj-slip.

Time to be happy with a great, RHS NHL ready addition we made to the team.

Pulj can click with all 3 of our Cs IMO.. RNH, McD and Draisaitl .. It will be exciting to watch him fly around this season no matter what line he is on ..

 

[Draiskull]

I can agree that Laine deserved to go before Puljujarvi but c'mon, that's not exactly fair. It's not like Laine went head to head with Puljujarvi and Laine came on top. It was more like Laine did very well and Puljujarvi got injured. If we're talking about them in terms of their skills, there is plenty of room for debate about which is better in which way. To me it's kind of like Hall vs Seguin. They were also evenly ranked in the season leading to the playoffs. Hall deserved to go 1st overall, but he got to be on a stacked Windsor squad, one that allowed Hall to distinguish himself. Seguin was on a worse team so he got knocked out of the playoffs early and couldn't prove himself. And yet, as of today Seguin is ranked ahead of Hall.

who cares... lets just say that if the Oilers won the 2nd lotto and were picking 2nd overall they would have picked Laine over Puljujarvi or Dubois 10\10 times. It really was a no brainer pick by Jets and will remain that way until Puljujarvi proves to be better.. Will have to wait ~5yrs for that.