I like it, but you just know he's going to pushing Big Puss out of the lineup and not Harkins.
Which is literally what happened. Puustinen sent down, Colin White remained on the roster and same for Jansen Harkins, Puljujaarvi, once his contract clears, is likely the call up right away. Imagine grinding through a major surgery, getting confidence in the AHL only for it to be entirely destroyed by Sullivan in the NHL, lol.
Now of course, in Sullivan’s mind, Jesse might be a veteran of 300+ NHL games and get the shot Puustinen deserved just based on that, which is 100% Sullivan.
Jesse isn’t even a bad player, he’s a strong 200ft player that creates offense fairly well for his linemates, isn’t much of a scorer really but he’s a smart player and could help Geno, but then again Puustinen could have as well (and did before Sullivan decided enough was enough at being productive). Jesse would be a good fit on Malkin’s RW, but then again, Rakell is producing well so Eller might benefit him more and I think Puljujaarvi is a better fit than Puustinen is on the 3rd line as Puustinen is a player that should be on the 2nd line. But again, Rakell is producing at the rate he should be (well a little higher than he normally does with 14pts in 17 games since being back).
If anything, I would love to see Poulin called up at least (demote Harkins, keep White up for 4th line RW) and Gruden, then see something like this:
Who gives a f***
Poulin, Malkin, Rakell
O’Connor, Eller, Puljujaarvi
Acciari, Gruden, White
Carter
At the TDL, I hope Allvin trades for Puustinen.