Oil Off Canvas: Puljujarvi’s re-emergence a key ingredient to Oilers’ early success

Scott Burnside
Scott Burnside
Oil Off Canvas: Puljujarvi’s re-emergence a key ingredient to Oilers’ early success

Scott Burnside

There have been times this fall when Edmonton Oilers GM Ken Holland has surveyed his club – a club with the third best points percentage in the NHL heading into play on Friday – and admittedly pondered what life might be like if the big kid wearing No. 13 was actually laying waste to opposing players and goaltenders in another jersey.

It’s a fleeting thought for sure but a nonetheless an unappealing one nonetheless especially given the many trials and tribulations that have marked Jesse Puljujarvi’s short NHL career.

“He’s grown into an important player on our team,” Holland said during a recent conversation. “The way he has developed and evolved over the last two years, certainly if he was in a different uniform somewhere else, that would not be good.”

Not good indeed.

The fact that Puljujarvi and the Oilers have managed to step back from the brink at which both sides stood a couple of years ago is also a testament to the old adage that the best deals are often the ones you don’t make. It’s also a reminder that the line between patience and decisiveness is often a very thin one and that being on the right side of said line makes all the difference.

One longtime NHL player, executive and talent evaluator said he believes that had the previous administration remained in place in Edmonton, it’s entirely likely the big winger would in fact somewhere else right now. Finland? Carolina? Columbus? Who knows. Not in Edmonton.

And the fact that the current management team, led by recently minted Hall of Famer Holland along with input from veteran head coach Dave Tippett, managed to keep an open dialogue with Puljujarvi and his representatives while also exploring trade alternatives was also a key factor in the current reclamation of what stands a critical piece to the Oilers’ championship dreams.

Entering Friday, Puljujarvi’s 14 points (6G, 8A) rank fourth on the Oilers behind only Leon Draisaitl, Connor McDavid and Ryan Nugent-Hopkins, as Edmonton sits atop the Pacific Division with a 12-4-0 record.

Did we mention a fine line?

The former executive said there was a definite, quiet “screw you” subtext to the Oilers not simply trading the No. 4 overall pick in the 2016 draft when Puljujarvi and agent Markus Lehto made it clear they didn’t believe Puljujarvi had a future in Edmonton.

That sentiment, that Puljujarvi was done with the Oilers, was reinforced multiple times, Holland confirmed.

Given that dynamic, “I have an obligation to either work the phones or answer the phone, but ultimately there was nothing of intrigue,” Holland said.

Funny how things work out, no?

There was a time leading up to the talent-laden 2016 draft that Puljujarvi was as highly touted as countryman Patrik Laine, who went second overall behind Auston Matthews.

And maybe the fact Laine instantly created a sensation in Winnipeg by scoring 36 times as a rookie and then followed that up with 44 goals as a sophomore only served to magnify Puljujarvi’s initial struggles at life as an NHLer, and more specifically life as an Edmonton Oiler.

Through his first three seasons, Puljujarvi yo-yoed from Edmonton to their American Hockey League affiliate in Bakersfield. The calls for the team to move on were heard and Puljujarvi would certainly have been happy had that happened at the time.

“I think when he first came over he was too young, didn’t know the language and was intimidated,” Tippett said. “And he just got on the wrong side of things.”

In the spring of 2019 after Puljujarvi’s third season, Holland was installed as president of hockey operations and GM of an Oiler team that had made an art form of squandering high picks and higher-end talent.

Three weeks later Holland hired Tippett, one of the most respected bench bosses in the business.

Tippett recalled the discussions when Holland took over about moving Puljujarvi and the calls from other teams who were hoping the Oilers would be selling low on the underachieving winger.

“The guy was drafted high for a reason and so we weren’t going to give him away,” Tippett said. “A lot of people called on him.”

Tippett credits Holland’s calmness in the midst of a difficult situation with avoiding the kind of move with a young player that can haunt a team for years.

And so, in the absence of a deal for Puljujarvi, it became then a process in repairing bridges with the player.

Without a contract but still property of the Oilers, Puljujarvi returned to his old team in Karpat, Finland for the 2019-20 season.

In January and February of 2020 Holland, Tippett, Puljujarvi and Lehto, chatted via Zoom to talk about Puljujarvi’s future and specifically his future in Edmonton.

“We told him we wanted him back,” Holland said.

There would be new opportunities, the locker room was a different place than when he first arrived and this would be a fresh start, the Oiler brain trust told Puljujarvi.

In the fall of 2020 instead of cutting ties, the team and the player agreed on a two-year deal with a $1.175 million cap hit.

He’ll be a restricted free agent at the end of the current season and it’s a safe bet the Oilers won’t be getting that kind of bargain vis a vis the cap if Puljujarvi continues to play at his current level.

Although he had a solid 15-goal, 25-point campaign in 55 games during last season’s COVID-shortened season Puljujarvi has flourished as the NHL has returned to a normal schedule and divisional alignment with increased opportunity to play with captain and defending Hart Trophy champion Connor McDavid and Leon Draisaitl, the Hart Trophy winner of two years ago.

“He’s come back with an incredibly positive attitude and his work ethic is second to none, and he’s a good player,” Tippett said.

Puljujarvi is basically at a point-a-game pace with six goals and eight assists. The good news for Oiler fans is that he’s not padding his stats getting mop-up time on the league’s most potent power play. He has one power-play goal and three power-play points, which mean’s doing the required work at 5-on-5.

“He’s just scratching the surface,” another longtime player, executive and scout said of Puljujarvi.

Holland acknowledges that he has sometimes been criticized for being overly cautious or conservative in terms of player development dating back to his long tenure in Detroit.

But this situation cried out for patience.

“I think he’d lost his confidence here,” Holland said.

And so in returning to Finland he was able to regain that confidence.

He thrived on the ice and worked on his English and when he returned to Edmonton for his second go-round with the team he was in a much better place.

“This go-round has been a much easier transition,” Holland said. “He knew what to expect, he was more prepared for it.”

“It couldn’t have worked out any better,” Holland said.

We caught up with the affable 23-year-old during a recent eastern road trip.

If there is any trepidation at playing with two of the most skilled players in the world Puljujarvi betrays none of it.

To hear him tell it, it’s really quite simple.

“Skate hard, go to where I’m good, win those battles, help those guys,” Puljujarvi explained. “Quick hockey, you always have to be ready to play so you need a good focus. I always try to get that good energy that they’re in.”

He plays the same way regardless of who is on the ice with him, but Tippett said when he’s out with Draisaitl and McDavid, Puljujarvi’s skill set meshes extremely well with those two elite players.

“They recognize he’s a real good player and strong on the puck and it’s the work he puts in,” Tippett said. “There might be times when the pass doesn’t go right or there’s a bobbled puck, but at the end of day the work he puts in to help us win. That’s the main driver of Jesse and the players love him.”

“He’s got a relentless work ethic and it doesn’t matter who he plays with,” Tippett said. “He creates loose pucks with his pressure and his big long stick. He keeps pucks alive and he has no issues going to the net and staying there.”

As for the past, Puljujarvi, known affectionately around Edmonton as the Bison King for and periodic encounters with bison in the Edmonton area and a subsequent bison-themed Halloween costume, makes it clear he’s not interested in retreading that ground.

We ask if he wondered if it would ever work as it is now working in Edmonton there is a pause and he begins to answer and then changes course.

“No,” he said after another pause. “I have always had trust in myself.”

One of the challenges for Holland in helping this explosive squad achieve liftoff has been in finding the right complimentary pieces for Draisaitl and McDavid. Adding Zach Hyman, whom one veteran GM likened to Chris Kunitz’s fit with Sidney Crosby in Pittsburgh, was key. But it came at a significant cost in the form of a seven-year deal with a $5.5 million cap hit.

Puljujarvi, the prodigal prospect in some ways, represents positives on multiple levels as the Oilers look to finally make good on their grand potential. But perhaps the biggest lesson from both the player and team standpoint is the value of not giving up on each other.

“I think there is some of that time heals stuff here,” Tippett said. “His teammates recognize how valuable he is as a player to us. He’s been excellent. In the room, guys enjoy him. He’s having fun. He’s one of those players, he really is a joy to coach because he is so engaged in what you’re trying to do.”

Keep scrolling for more content!