JESSE PULJUJARVI - Right Winger - 21 - RFA in 2019-2020
LAST UPDATED 8/5/19
While Jesse Puljujarvi's failures as a professional player relative to his draft status have not quite hit Nail Yakupov levels, he certainly looks on track to get into that area. He hasn't been able to earn the trust of his coaches and hold onto a spot in the NHL lineup, and he also hasn't been able to score with any sort of consistency on North American ice. He's reportedly unhappy with his situation in Edmonton and wants out. This is so unfortunate for the Oilers because Puljujarvi was a player with so much upside but he simply has not been able to break free of the inconsistency that has plagued his career for years. Puljujarvi has so much obvious skill, he's a good shooter with strong skating abilities and great hands. There's an opportunity for him to leverage those tools into top-6 production, but Puljujarvi hasn't done that. His inconsistency is largely mental. He has inconsistent on-ice awareness and is prone to many hockey IQ mistakes. He can take bad penalties, back check too softly, make defensive positioning mistakes in his own zone, and just generally play with erratic effort and on-ice awareness. Because his ability to give his all on a shift is something that comes and goes, and because his shift-by-shift hockey IQ can fluctuate heavily, coaches struggle to trust Puljujarvi, unsure of whether they'll get strong enough play from him in any shift they give him. To be sure, Puljujarvi still has massive upside. He could be that jitterbug offensive force he sometimes looks like, but unless he can earn the trust of his coaches by playing with some level of consistency, he'll always be that "all the tools, no toolbox" highly drafted prospect that just got away.
While Jesse Puljujarvi's failures as a professional player relative to his draft status have not quite hit Nail Yakupov levels, he certainly looks on track to get into that area. He hasn't been able to earn the trust of his coaches and hold onto a spot in the NHL lineup, and he also hasn't been able to score with any sort of consistency on North American ice. He's reportedly unhappy with his situation in Edmonton and wants out. This is so unfortunate for the Oilers because Puljujarvi was a player with so much upside but he simply has not been able to break free of the inconsistency that has plagued his career for years. Puljujarvi has so much obvious skill, he's a good shooter with strong skating abilities and great hands. There's an opportunity for him to leverage those tools into top-6 production, but Puljujarvi hasn't done that. His inconsistency is largely mental. He has inconsistent on-ice awareness and is prone to many hockey IQ mistakes. He can take bad penalties, back check too softly, make defensive positioning mistakes in his own zone, and just generally play with erratic effort and on-ice awareness. Because his ability to give his all on a shift is something that comes and goes, and because his shift-by-shift hockey IQ can fluctuate heavily, coaches struggle to trust Puljujarvi, unsure of whether they'll get strong enough play from him in any shift they give him. To be sure, Puljujarvi still has massive upside. He could be that jitterbug offensive force he sometimes looks like, but unless he can earn the trust of his coaches by playing with some level of consistency, he'll always be that "all the tools, no toolbox" highly drafted prospect that just got away.
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