1.If you missed Jesse Puljujarvi on Friday re-stating his demand to be traded, the
Cult of Hockey’sDavid Staples recounts it
here. While I have written and still think it’s possible Puljujarvi will be in camp this Fall, the bigger question has really become: How did we get to this point? There’s no question the organization has made its share of mistakes in developing the player. But the examples of the
stubbornness that Puljujarvi and his agent have displayed through these “negotiations”? Multiple observations and insider comments suggest to me that the same stubbornness has showed up all-too frequently on the ice and in the dressing room as well. Examples:
-It has been described to me by multiple sources close to the team how Todd McLellan invested hours upon hours into trying to un-lock Puljujarvi when he first arrived in Edmonton. One of Todd’s frustrations was Jesse’s inconsistency in getting to the net. There, the player’s size & skill combination could be a real factor. When Puljujarvi would do this and was successful Todd would not miss the opportunity to praise him. He would point out how positioning on the play was critical. But then the next shift Puljujarvi would stubbornly appear back on the perimeter again. Todd got frustrated.
-Part of McLellan’s struggle was that he was often in the position of being “the bad cop” on the staff. Perhaps a good complimentary step would be to assign a coach to him whose job would be to “catch Jesse doing things right”? So this past fall Manny Viveiros was brought in. One of his key assignments was to attach himself to the young Finn which he did. But Manny didn’t even make as much progress as McLellan had. And remember: Viveiros has a reputation of being able to connect with today’s player. Observers say it was if advice would go in one ear…and right out the other.
-New head coach Ken Hitchcock was so confident that he had the answer he reversed a decision to have Puljujarvi spend the rest of the season in Bakersfield. Much to the consternation and confusion of the Puljujarvi camp, the Oilers recalled him yet again. Hitchcock is the very personification of stubborn when it comes to insisting that players play for him a certain way, especially without the puck. But as it turned out Hitch (the 2nd winningest coach in NHL history) didn’t have the keys to the car, either. The winger’s TOI over his last 10 games topped 10 minutes only 3 times. 3 other times it fell into the single digits. Yes, the bad hip also contributed to that.
-Meanwhile, though all of the above, his teammates struggled to connect with him on the ice. Often, especially on the power play, Puljujarvi would repeatedly head to the wrong spot. He would literally bump into them. When they would try to explain it to him their words of advice seemed to fall flat. Was he not listening…or not agreeing? Eventually, although none of these players would ever dream of saying this in public…I am made to understand that they quietly asked just not to play with him anymore. There’s no suggestion they disliked him as a guy. Just that he was just hard to play with.
Did Jesse perhaps just not understand? I think we’d all have time for that issue, right? Well…there has been a lot of ink spilled on Puljujarvi’s perceived language barrier. However, one particular person who was in that dressing room last season was asked about that very factor, and he answered:
“
No, he knows way more that he lets on”.
That same person (who shall remain anonymous) was then asked, “So what’s the problem with Jesse, really”?
The answer, shrugged back, was once again: “
He’s just stubborn”.
Huh. You don’t say.
So…if you’re a prospect for whom things have just not gone your way (and again, not all his doing by any means) at some point…don’t you figure out that “stubborn” isn’t a trait that is going to do you any favors?
