Player Discussion Jesse Puljujarvi Part 11: Solid Return Season Completed, How Does Next Season Go For the Big Finn?

[Zub]

His games last year doesn’t count because…?

Please name one area besides shooting where Laine is better than Pulju.

Deking and Fortnite. But on a more serious note, having watched both i can say Laine has better vision/passing and can be quite a playmaker when he wants to, he's not just a shooter.

 

[ManWithNoName]

Deking and Fortnite. But on a more serious note, having watched both i can say Laine has better vision/passing and can be quite a playmaker when he wants to, he's not just a shooter.

I can admit that his vision/passing is underrated by the majority, but I wouldn’t go as far as calling him a playmaker.

If Laine can get his shit together, which I hope as I really like him, he’ll most likely outscore Pulju for the remainder of their careers. But I would still choose Pulju over Laine cause I think he’ll be the more complete player in the long run.

 

[CornKicker]

if im in a tight checking game and need to win im taking JP98 over Laine all day...

 

[D4ngleSZN]

This is the equivalent of the main boards choosing Barkov over Draisaitl to look: "smart"
Laine is better than Pulju, full stop. And that's not an insult.
Just like how saying Draisaitl is better than Barkov is not an insult.

 

[Trafalgar Sadge Law]

JP might not be living up to the draft hype but at his current trajectory I can see him turning into a Jere Lehtinen type player which every team in the NHL can use. It may not be the Hossa scouts were raving about back in the day but that's still a helluva complimentary piece.

Also as for Laine vs Poolparty anybody who thinks a guy whose career high in points is less than Laine's goal total in most years is full on trolling. He has the ability to develop into a better player especially if Laine continues his downward trajectory from last year but as of right now he's a vastly inferior player.

Lehtinen won it three times and is arguably the best defensive winger of all time. So let's not put Pulju up there with him just yet! On the other hand Jesse is playing a role many wingers don't - he plays more defense than his C. So maybe that makes it possible for him to be in the Selke-conversations in the future.

I actually think he has the ability to get close to that Lehtinen level defensively. His skating and forechecking ability are unmatched and he's positionally strong to begin with, seemingly always getting to puck carriers in the shortest amount of time possible. Analytically he was already a top 10 defensive forward in the league last year IIRC and the eye test suggests that too.

 

[Zub]

I can admit that his vision/passing is underrated by the majority, but I wouldn’t go as far as calling him a playmaker.

If Laine can get his shit together, which I hope as I really like him, he’ll most likely outscore Pulju for the remainder of their careers. But I would still choose Pulju over Laine cause I think he’ll be the more complete player in the long run.

I have to disagree with you here, when you go look where Laine places in goals scored since he came in to the league you kindof can't place Pulju over him in the future, also Laine can be playing like a playmaker when he's really on, that was my point. But i also understand reasons why you have this opinion, i just don't think one bad season damaged Laine's rep that much but HF boards seems to think otherwise.

 

[Aerchon]

This is the equivalent of the main boards choosing Barkov over Draisaitl to look: "smart"
Laine is better than Pulju, full stop. And that's not an insult.
Just like how saying Draisaitl is better than Barkov is not an insult.

Laine used to be much better than Puljujarvi. Not sure if people realize how far he has fallen. That combined with Puljujarvi growing narrows the gap.

Is Laine still better than Puljujarvi. Yes, but by the end of this year that might change. Liane has serious flaws in his game and if he isn't scoring in bunches I personally wouldn't want him on my team period. Especially at his cap

 

[Whyme]

Pulju is a more impactful player than either Nuge or Hyman, his ceiling is higher, particularly his goal scoring ceiling. Nice to see him realizing his potential and getting untracked quickly. He was a valuable player to the team last season and he's picking up where he left off.

This is unconnected but he's very interested in exploring this area where he plays hockey and seeing the sights and where he's playing hockey and spending a lot of his time. Him going fishing locally, exploring river valley, going to the Mountains, going to Elk Island, its obvious he's now making the most of being here, having joy in being here, and an important part of that is embracing where you live as much as where you play, if that makes any sense. He's comfortable here now on and off the ice. Even getting a dog, an unconditional pal to love, and a relationship, you need those when things aren't going as well.

To his credit Pulju promotes Edmonton more than any player I've seen lately. Kudos for him for that, and his appreciation is so genuine. He gets what this province and area is. Not many players do.

Great post, sorry it took this long to get back to the computer and thus your message! I've said it before, but there's every reason to believe Pulju is one of those people who rather stay in a place like Edmonton (big city's services, lots of beautiful nature around, climate closer to Finland) than the warmer places many players are after. I think those players are valuable to the Oilers and yes it seems Pulju is spreading the beauty of your area quite nicely.

 

[Whyme]

Sorry if this has already been mentioned here, but Sportsnet just wrote about Pulju. It includes comments from other players and some (at this point many probably think overly) brave thoughts and predictions such as these:

Now? You wouldn’t trade Puljujarvi for a pair of firsts.

Today, Puljujarvi has learned how to use his big frame to create space and win battles. He has confidence to use a superior shot, and affixed with the best player in the game, scoring opportunities will be endless. He could score 25 or 30 goals this season, and perhaps 50 down the road.
“Fifty?” you ask.
Why not?” we’d counter.

Nuge:
“The big thing for him now is that he has confidence in himself. He’s big, he’s strong and he can skate like the wind. And he has fun doing it. That’s what shines, and what fans love about him.”

McDavid:
“He’s just a great kid. He loves the game, loves to play. And it’s impressive to see what he has done with his game. He was a young kid, thrown into the fire (too soon), and didn’t really know what he was doing out there. Good for him for taking some time, and trying to figure out the game. You can just see his confidence rising each and every day.”

Yamamoto:
“The sky’s the limit for that guy. He was drafted fourth overall for a reason, and he’s finally starting to show it now. I think he’s got so much more to improve, and he’s going to get so much better this year. He’s going to be such a good player here this year:”


Jesse Puljujarvi looks poised to make big impact for Oilers

 

[North Cole]

This is the equivalent of the main boards choosing Barkov over Draisaitl to look: "smart"
Laine is better than Pulju, full stop. And that's not an insult.
Just like how saying Draisaitl is better than Barkov is not an insult.

The only thing inferior about Florida is that they don't have McDavid, and their goalie cap hits are real bad.

 

[Perfect_Drug]

I can admit that his vision/passing is underrated by the majority, but I wouldn’t go as far as calling him a playmaker.

If Laine can get his shit together, which I hope as I really like him, he’ll most likely outscore Pulju for the remainder of their careers. But I would still choose Pulju over Laine cause I think he’ll be the more complete player in the long run.

Funny how this was their draft day assessment.

Before we got Hyman, I really wanted Holland to make a push for Laine.

 

[ijuka]

His games last year doesn’t count because…?

Please name one area besides shooting where Laine is better than Pulju.

Mainly stickhandling. For the rest, I guess we'll need to see how the season ends up going for them.

 

[SupremeTeam16]

Jesse is a beast. Really happy to see him hitting his stride.

 

[Trafalgar Sadge Law]

Sorry if this has already been mentioned here, but Sportsnet just wrote about Pulju. It includes comments from other players and some (at this point many probably think overly) brave thoughts and predictions such as these:

Now? You wouldn’t trade Puljujarvi for a pair of firsts.

Today, Puljujarvi has learned how to use his big frame to create space and win battles. He has confidence to use a superior shot, and affixed with the best player in the game, scoring opportunities will be endless. He could score 25 or 30 goals this season, and perhaps 50 down the road.
“Fifty?” you ask.
Why not?” we’d counter.

Nuge:
“The big thing for him now is that he has confidence in himself. He’s big, he’s strong and he can skate like the wind. And he has fun doing it. That’s what shines, and what fans love about him.”

McDavid:
“He’s just a great kid. He loves the game, loves to play. And it’s impressive to see what he has done with his game. He was a young kid, thrown into the fire (too soon), and didn’t really know what he was doing out there. Good for him for taking some time, and trying to figure out the game. You can just see his confidence rising each and every day.”

Yamamoto:
“The sky’s the limit for that guy. He was drafted fourth overall for a reason, and he’s finally starting to show it now. I think he’s got so much more to improve, and he’s going to get so much better this year. He’s going to be such a good player here this year:”


Jesse Puljujarvi looks poised to make big impact for Oilers

But but but mainboards told me McDavid yelled at Puljujarvi in that one playoff game last year and hates his guts!

 

[OilerTitanFan]

I’d say he already is the better player if you look at the whole picture. Laine is an amazing goal scorer and has one of the best shots in the league. But other than that JP is your man. JP has the heart and determination of a bison, which IMO is the most important thing. Next season his value will surpass Laine’s.

Just look at the list below. Picks after #15, nothing really to write home about except for 2 players, Alex Debrincat and Samuel Girard. 3 years ago, this board was regretting passing up on Matthew Tkachuk. Charlie McAvoy would have been the better pick just based on what's left and present day performance.

Which one below are you willing to give up JP for aside from Matthews straight up now? Not a whole lot to choose from. Juolevi looks like the worst pick out of that list. Talk about blowing it there. The Canucks would sure look smart now with Tkachuk had they picked him.

Another interesting fact was that if JP was taken, the Oilers would not have picked PLD and rumors was that Sergachev was their guy. That would have altered the course of our picks and Broberg would not have been picked. One of Zegras, PodKolzin or Caufield might be taken.

Just throwing it out there. This might have been our current lineup. Just fooling around here.

D
Nurse-Sergachev
Keith-Barrie
Russell-Bouchard

Top Line
Draisaitl-McDavid-Caufield

#1		Toronto Maple Leafs	Auston Matthews (F)	6	334	199	152	351	56
#2		Winnipeg Jets	Patrik Laine (F)	6	351	150	121	271	139
#3		Columbus Blue Jackets	Pierre-Luc Dubois (F)	5	280	74	105	179	200
#4		Edmonton Oilers	Jesse Puljujärvi (F)	5	194	32	30	62	56
#5		Vancouver Canucks	Olli Juolevi (D)	3	23	2	1	3	0
#6		Calgary Flames	Matthew Tkachuk (F)	6	349	110	168	278	357
#7		Arizona Coyotes	Clayton Keller (F)	6	293	68	125	193	94
#8		Buffalo Sabres	Alex Nylander (F)	6	84	13	19	32	14
#9		Montréal Canadiens	Mikhail Sergachyov (D)	6	284	29	107	136	154
#10		Colorado Avalanche	Tyson Jost (F)	6	262	39	50	89	86
#11		Ottawa Senators	Logan Brown (F)	5	30	1	8	9	6
#12		New Jersey Devils	Michael McLeod (F)	4	85	9	11	20	59
#13		Carolina Hurricanes	Jake Bean (D)	3	44	1	11	12	12
#14		Boston Bruins	Charlie McAvoy (D)	6	235	24	98	122	177
#15		Minnesota Wild	Luke Kunin (F)	5	169	33	38	71	108
#16		Arizona Coyotes	Jakob Chychrun (D)	6	290	46	75	121	171

[TBODY] [/TBODY]

 

[nexttothemoon]

I would have taken McAvoy and Kaliyev in those drafts so I guess it's lucky I'm not in charge of the Oilers drafting.

 

[Aceboogie]

I'd take JP over Laine easily

 

[BarDownBobo]

 

[OilerTitanFan]

I would have taken McAvoy and Kaliyev in those drafts so I guess it's lucky I'm not in charge of the Oilers drafting.

After the end of this season, let's see if anything changes. Many of the players on the list, we already know what they bring to the table. I do think McAvoy would be in the top 5 now. JP is the x-factor. What if JP hit 40 goals this season? That would probably guarantee a spot in the top 3 with Matthews and McAvoy. Crazy how things change and how Laine was supposed to be the best goal scorer in that draft.

 

[OilerTitanFan]

I'd take JP over Laine easily

Based on past performance and point totals, it is really hard to say. What if Laine gets back to his goal scoring ways again?

 

[TopShelfGloveSide]

I'd take JP over Laine easily

I like JP but no way. Laine probably scores 40+ goals here.

 

[Aceboogie]

I like JP but no way. Laine probably scores 40+ goals here.

Laine is a major liability 95% of the ice, he also doesn't create much offense, just a generational finisher. JP is very good defensively.and creates more offense himself



* I dont think highly of Laine

 

[Zaddy]

I used to be a big fan of Laine but seems like he doesn't even enjoy hockey anymore. He's playing so lazy and just his whole body language out there on the ice is...not good. Jesse will likely surpass him this season. Laine has gone backwards these past couple of years while Jesse has worked hard and completely reinvented his game. Laine could be an incredible player and has a higher ceiling but doesn't seem like he wants it. If I had to bet who's going to have a better career from here on out I'd easily bet on Jesse.

 

[ManWithNoName]

Laine is a major liability 95% of the ice, he also doesn't create much offense, just a generational finisher. JP is very good defensively.and creates more offense himself



* I dont think highly of Laine

And this is exactly why Pulju will be worth more than Laine. If Laine doesn’t score, he doesn’t really contribute. If Pulju doesn’t score he still contributes in both zones.

I enjoy watching Laine when he’s playing at his potential, but he seem to have a hard time keeping it up.

 

[Del Preston]