Rumor: Jesse Puljujarvi Part 3: Maybe He Picked Out His Brain Through His Nose One Lick at a Time?

[oilerbear]

Normally, I don't dump on young players. But he is showing a lot of immaturity here. Playing in the NHL is a rare opportunity that a lot of guys would kill for. Puljujarvi had a chance to come back with a new coach and new management and show that he has learned what it takes to be a pro. Eat a little humble pie and I have no doubt guys like McDavid would be helpful. Then if he wants a trade I am sure the team would accommodate him. BUt there is no way they should just let him dictate where he will and won't play in the NHL until he has earned that right as a UFA.

How much further ahead would this team be right now if he and Yak had reached their upside as draft prospects.

The kid scored evg better than Tkachuk at 19 yr with lesser talent.

Then the oil give 8 wingers more EVTOI with Mcdavid than him in 18-19.

PC & Tmac told him to piss off with the ice time.

So that is what he is doing.

Yours is an opinion.

Real TOI data tells a player if a team wants him.

It is a shame Holland who wants his prospects to be 22-23 before they get a 37+ game season debut was not GM.

 

[HenrikW]

On a side note, no more Malkin comparisons. Malkin is a franchise-defining 1C. Every now and then, he has been in the discussion of what players are at a level of generational talent. To compare anyone to Malkin when discussing language barrier and the effect it could have on development, its just ridiculous.

AND. Lets not forget, he was a KHL draft pick, bound on contract to KHL. He HAD to stay and develop in his home country during the years we have talked about in regards to Jesse. This in itself slays the stupid comparison.

 

[scholl]

I still can't shake his entitled narrative that he belongs in NHL, that he has continued to use even after having lack luster seasons in EDM / AHL. This has concerned me for years. He lacks humility. That coupled with the fact that the language barrier kept him from excelling at practice. For reference (an earlier post of mine):

Early 2018 he told in an interview that Oilers was finally going to get him an English teacher and added that he needed that. I cannot understand how it took something like 1.5 years before he got someone. It gives an impression that either Oilers didn't care or perhaps they were thinking that it's not important whether he speaks the language or not.

 

[HenrikW]

Early 2018 he told in an interview that Oilers was finally going to get him an English teacher and added that he needed that. I cannot understand how it took something like 1.5 years before he got someone. It gives an impression that either Oilers didn't care or perhaps they were thinking that it's not important whether he speaks the language or not.

Is that exactly what he said though? I have heard this by hearsay, but I have also heard Oilers management saying he has had an english tutor. And according to another source, he has been taking english lessons since January of 2016. Back in June 2016 there's a report that he is taking english lesson(s). I get the feeling that the interview you talked about is hearsay/missinterpritate

 

[Mickelsnitz]

Secondly I would like to comment on the idea that it would have been better to let Puljujärvi mature in Finland for a season or two;

If you have seen any interview at all from the latter part of the draft year, the combine and at the draft, these is one thing Jesse Puljujärvi reiterates more than anything else.

"I am ready for NHL."
"NHL is my league."

Yes, maybe it would have been best of if had to learn that he's not entitled to an NHL spot, but I can't really fault Oilers for giving him an extended look for 28 games in his rookie year. He was so highly touted, pretty much every scout deemed him NHL ready, and not only because of his size. And he had already decided for himself, that he was going to play in NHL.

Oilers responsabilities in his lack of development really doesn't start until his 2nd year as a professional. There are plenty of errors. For early call-ups, for a lack of ice-time to name a few. While we should not forget that Jesse did play well enough in the preseasons to change the plans for him to start in Bakersfield, there should have been a much more proactive response as soon as Oilers saw that he was struggling.

I still can't shake his entitled narrative that he belongs in NHL, that he has continued to use even after having lack luster seasons in EDM / AHL. This has concerned me for years. He lacks humility. That coupled with the fact that the language barrier kept him from excelling at practice. For reference (an earlier post of mine):



Just got to think that he doesn't really have a viable perception of where he is at as a player. To me, it seems like it's fairly hard to coach him.[/

NHL is not his league.

 

[Drivesaitl]

Too high, too high, too high, too high, too high, too high, too high, better than Laine? nope... that's crazy talk, too high, too high, too high, too high, too high, too high.


Scouts (even multiple scouts) get player projections wrong all the time... that's why you have surprises in the late 1st and on into the 2nd and 3rd rounds and early 1st round busts... every... single... year.

It's tough to project 17 year olds and JP was a "victim" of being drafted too high because they saw his physical stature as being easily translatable to carrying that play over to a top line/top 6 role in the NHL.

Apparently not.

Agreed.

Also a plurality of scouts ranking similarly is not indicative of any objective truth in determination of best players. Its arguably just still bias. Just that this gets replicated so much. For instance I've often thought it strange that some player rankings go up and down so much based on limited sample, a tournament, an injury, etc. Both Puljujarvi, and Paajarvi, both entirely useless players, were drafted higher than they should be, and were elevated on the basis of select tournament high profile success. I don't know that objectivity would place such high importance on limited sample games in tournament(s).

 

[Drivesaitl]

Secondly I would like to comment on the idea that it would have been better to let Puljujärvi mature in Finland for a season or two;

If you have seen any interview at all from the latter part of the draft year, the combine and at the draft, these is one thing Jesse Puljujärvi reiterates more than anything else.

"I am ready for NHL."
"NHL is my league."

Yes, maybe it would have been best of if had to learn that he's not entitled to an NHL spot, but I can't really fault Oilers for giving him an extended look for 28 games in his rookie year. He was so highly touted, pretty much every scout deemed him NHL ready, and not only because of his size. And he had already decided for himself, that he was going to play in NHL.

Oilers responsabilities in his lack of development really doesn't start until his 2nd year as a professional. There are plenty of errors. For early call-ups, for a lack of ice-time to name a few. While we should not forget that Jesse did play well enough in the preseasons to change the plans for him to start in Bakersfield, there should have been a much more proactive response as soon as Oilers saw that he was struggling.

I still can't shake his entitled narrative that he belongs in NHL, that he has continued to use even after having lack luster seasons in EDM / AHL. This has concerned me for years. He lacks humility. That coupled with the fact that the language barrier kept him from excelling at practice. For reference (an earlier post of mine):



Just got to think that he doesn't really have a viable perception of where he is at as a player. To me, it seems like it's fairly hard to coach him.

He was not only NHL entitled, his next most common comment about being drafted by the Oilers was playing with McDavid. Not just on the team, but assuming he'd be on the first line out of the gate. Those comments struck me as odd at the time, and entirely presumptive. So that anything less than that, in Puljujarvi world, was going to be disappointing.

Imagine this player thinking he's good enough to play on a line with McD. He's shown nothing that indicates that fit. Nor has Pulju done anything to even deserve topsix play, and reportedly none of the top Centers on the team want to have him on their line.

 

[HenrikW]

NHL is not his league.

Jesse Puljujärvi täräytti suorat sanat tulevasta NHL-kaudesta – linjasi ehdottoman tavoitteen - using google translate

Jesse Puljujärvi plans to consolidate his position in the Edmonton top chains in his third NHL season.
That's what top athletes talk about but say little. Even a long interview may be empty.
But now Jesse Puljujärvi hits the counter and figuratively punches his fist at the table. A two-season NHL hockey player leaves no room for the word. He is absolutely sure what he is saying.
- Farm (AHL) has been seen, Lake Pulju, 20, pounds.
- I don't even think about AHL. The NHL is my place, he emphasizes.
Words come with unshakable confidence. The Edmonton Oilers' first round booking of 2016 emphasizes that the career is only up.
- The first two years were bullish and the second was clearly better. My absolute goal is a place in the Oilers' two top chains, even number one alongside Connor McDavid.

 

[Dazed and Confused]

When I look at Pulju development, I think the biggest mistake the Oil made was not continuely putting him in high minutes situations.

If you've got player that you struggle to communicate with and whose skillset is raw, than he needed game experience to get those mistakes out of his game. In other words, he needed to be in the AHL (or Finland).

The Oil's first year with him was okay for this, as they (eventually) sent him down for 40 games to play with Lander and Laleggia. But by all reports, this was a positive year. The biggest issue I had here was the team buying out Korpikoski for little reason. Especially when you've just drafted a Finn and Korpi's a well regarded and popular figure in the Finnish hockey scene. It seemed like an easy fit as a mentor.

However it's the next year where the f**k ups really begin. He plays all of 10 games in the AHL with mixed results, however as the Oil are desperate to replace Eberle, they keep him up, hoping he'll piece his game together here. That same issue continues into last season, and even once hes sent down, he's on a plane back two weeks later with Hitch being advertised as the "Pulju and Lucic whisper".

Yamamoto dealt with similar crap, and has struggled for it too.


Trading Eberle wasn't the main mistake Chia made, rather not bringing in a proven player to replace him and expecting a bunch of kids to do the job with no alternative plan was the brain dead move (and that doesn't even take into account the doubling down on this bet that took place later). Why Vanek, or Vrbata or any Versteeg quality player weren't signed is the biggest screw up Chia made at that point.

So yes, the Oil definitely screwed around with Puljujarvi development. However there is still an onus on Pulju to improve his weaknesses. He's making 100,000's in his first year, why is he (or his agent, who should be looking out for his clients best interests) not hiring a English tutor themselves?

 

[Mickelsnitz]

Jesse Puljujärvi täräytti suorat sanat tulevasta NHL-kaudesta – linjasi ehdottoman tavoitteen - using google translate

What team will he be playing on chains with in the NHL this year?

 

[HenrikW]

He was not only NHL entitled, his next most common comment about being drafted by the Oilers was playing with McDavid. Not just on the team, but assuming he'd be on the first line out of the gate. Those comments struck me as odd at the time, and entirely presumptive. So that anything less than that, in Puljujarvi world, was going to be disappointing.

Imagine this player thinking he's good enough to play on a line with McD. He's shown nothing that indicates that fit. Nor has Pulju done anything to even deserve topsix play, and reportedly none of the top Centers on the team want to have him on their line.

I think Oilers added to that disappointment by almost exclusively giving him looks on McDavids wing during the preseason. But yes, for me this is the biggest concern from day 1 too. I have been rooting for the kid to break out like few others, but vary of the fact that his confidence seems misplaced.

 

[scholl]

Is that exactly what he said though? I have heard this by hearsay, but I have also heard Oilers management saying he has had an english tutor. And according to another source, he has been taking english lessons since January of 2016. Back in June 2016 there's a report that he is taking english lesson(s). I get the feeling that the interview you talked about is hearsay/missinterpritate

I get the feeling that you don't understand what you are reading.
https://www.nordicbet.com/fi/blogi/jaakiekko/nhl/onside-with-jouni-nieminen-kuhinaa/
Jouni Nieminen, is a journalist who lives in Edmonton. Jesse told him those things in an interview and after that Jouni wrote it in his blog. After that every single newspaper cited him. So how is that hearsay?
This is what Jesse said:
"living is not so different from Finland"... " a lot of games and then the language"
"I never go first in practice. I watch what others do in order to know what we are supposed to do. Today it was a couple of times difficult when the coach changed the drill when I was the first one in the line"
"if we practice 5 vs. 5, it doesn't matter with whom I play. if I don't know something I ask "what's going on?""
"I try to speak a lot and learn the language"..."English lessons start soon. Oilers is going to get me a teacher. That's fine, I need one. I've been here here for almost two years. It has been difficult".

 

[tellermine]

I am actually to lazy to copy that link.
So I delete whole post.

 

[McBooya42]

JP is and was overrated and was drafted too high... BUT if he pulls his head out... he could still be a useful NHL player IF he puts his head down and works on becoming a good 2-way bottom 6 forward... which is what his true upside always was which is still a valuable asset for a team as well (just not something you should use a #4 pick on obviously... but that mistake was made so you have to move on from that).

Shoving the square peg in a round hole is the issue here... in this case, the team initially seeing him as a top 6 player and JP seeing a distorted view of himself as ONLY a top line/top 6 player is the problem.

JP needs to come down to Earth and realize he isn't all that... and that's fine if he could realize that... as plenty of players aren't top 6/top line players and they can still have solid NHL careers and who knows... those types of players sometimes develop and improve and one day can evolve to step up into top 6 roles as well.

Guys like Kassian and Chiasson have that potential and possibility to be bottom/top 6 tweeners who can play up and down the lineup... and Puljujarvi could be that as well if he learns to work his ass off at both ends and crash and bang a little with his big body and drive to the net.

He certainly has some physical tools but obviously the toolbox needs a lot of tweaking... but the #1 issue is that he hasn't yet come to the point of realization that it's not all going to be handed to him on a silver platter as he's NOT a top 6 talent and he's not just going to be fed cushy top minutes because he can't make good use of those minutes when he gets them.

He has to reach that point of realization that players like Cogliano had when they look at reality... make a change in their expectations... put their heads down and listen to their coaches (WHO WANT THEM TO SUCCEED... because why the hell would you want the player to fail and have yet another bust?)

The team made the mistake of putting too high a level of expectation on him when his talent and skill clearly couldn't match those expectations and JP needs to also realize he doesn't merit those top minutes either at the NHL level... so the only alternative if he wants an NHL career is to bust your ass in a bottom 6 role and play solid 2 way hard-nosed driving hockey... if he can't do that then he's going to bust out of the NHL and be a never has been in the European Leagues like so many that have gone before him.

I would like this twice if I could.

 

[McBooya42]

The kid scored evg better than Tkachuk at 19 yr with lesser talent.

Then the oil give 8 wingers more EVTOI with Mcdavid than him in 18-19.

PC & Tmac told him to piss off with the ice time.

So that is what he is doing.

Yours is an opinion.

Real TOI data tells a player if a team wants him.

It is a shame Holland who wants his prospects to be 22-23 before they get a 37+ game season debut was not GM.

Unfortunately the stats don't tell you that he wasn't listening to the coaches, nor working on his English. That's why his TOI went down. Jeebus, take off the stats blinders.

 

[Fourier]

theoretical physics are mathematics. Einstein field equations - Wikipedia

At the risk of taking this bad joke too far off topic: Some theoretical physicist are also mathematicians, Newton being perhaps the most well known example. Einstein used mathematics but he most definitely was not a mathematician despite the popular belief that he was. Of course that does not make what he did any less important.

 

[Fourier]

The kid scored evg better than Tkachuk at 19 yr with lesser talent

Then the oil give 8 wingers more EVTOI with Mcdavid than him in 18-19.

PC & Tmac told him to piss off with the ice time.

So that is what he is doing.

Yours is an opinion.

Real TOI data tells a player if a team wants him.

It is a shame Holland who wants his prospects to be 22-23 before they get a 37+ game season debut was not GM.

If you look you will have a hard time finding any posts I have made that suggest the kid is a bust. I would like to see him succeed as an Oiler. My comments have more to do with a 21 year old refusing to act professionally. Now maybe there are things behind the scene that justify his stance. But his recent behavior for me suggests a significant lack of maturity. This should not be surprising from a 21 year old kid. But the difference here is that this 21 year old kid is in a profession that pays him millions of dollars to do his job.

 

[CupofOil]

Puljujarvi sucks cause he’s not good at hockey, not cause he doesn’t know English.

Not knowing the language and being able to communicate with coaches and teammates is a problem when you're as raw as he was coming into the draft. Players with more refined skills or who could play a specific bottom 6 role could get away with it but a player who desperately needed to be coached up needs to have a line of communication.

There's many reasons why JP failed and any one of them can be considered valid including the language barrier. It's just one of many reasons why he failed here, not THE reason.

 

[harpoon]

@tellermine just a heads up as you may not be familiar with all the forum rules. Posts like the one you made above are not permitted without links or verified sources. I suggest you delete.

 

[scholl]

At Finnish forums Jatkoaika writes from Oulu said that Jesse has been quite a lot at citys clubs in these last summer. Quite heavy drinking.
Writer says, normal to kid his age but not to a high level athlete.
Also one said Jesse was ejected from club as he was to drink and there was some problems with other clubbers.

That is why I suggested that he should travel to Florida and let Olli Jokinen teach him how to become a NHL player. I still can remember the time when I used to get wasted with OJ and other players. I could tell hundreds of stories about those summers but the point here is that this boy is lost and needs guidance, not drinking.

 

[oobga]

Early 2018 he told in an interview that Oilers was finally going to get him an English teacher and added that he needed that. I cannot understand how it took something like 1.5 years before he got someone. It gives an impression that either Oilers didn't care or perhaps they were thinking that it's not important whether he speaks the language or not.

Still wondering what happened with Pulju and his schooling. Learning a 2nd language in mandatory in Finland, and nearly 90% pick English. What kind of slack-arsing did Pulju do through school to manage to not learn English while on the road to trying to be an NHLer?

 

[McRobbiezyg]

Hope he gets to light up the finnish league this year. Best thing for his value is to play over there and do well.

 

[tellermine]

@tellermine just a heads up as you may not be familiar with all the forum rules. Posts like the one you made above are not permitted without links or verified sources. I suggest you delete.

Well if I copy Finnish forum texts?

 

[Frank the Tank]

At the risk of taking this bad joke too far off topic: Some theoretical physicist are also mathematicians, Newton being perhaps the most well known example. Einstein used mathematics but he most definitely was not a mathematician despite the popular belief that he was. Of course that does not make what he did any less important.

Who had the better career year?

Gretzky 1984-85 or Einstein's "Annus mirabilis" 1905?

 

[Fourier]

Who had the better career year?

Gretzky 1984-85 or Einstein's "Annus mirabilis" 1905?

I'm going with Gretzky. But it's all relative.