There have sure been some interesting comments lately about Edmonton Oilers forward Jesse Puljujarvi. Last week the forward commented that perhaps he does not have what it takes to be a regular in the NHL. This week NHL Insider Elliotte Friedman reports Puljujarvi feels the least amount of pressure when he isn't playing with McDavid or Draisaitl. These reports and comments lately suggest that it might be time to move on from the inconsistent forward. Puljujarvi has just one go I twenty eight games this season. Depth scoring remains a big problem for the Oilers. You would think most players would love the opportunity to play with superstars like McDavid or Draisaitl. For some reason, Puljujarvi feels too much pressure to produce with these two.
The Oilers are in tough spot with Puljujarvi. They thought highly of him when they drafted him fourth overall in 2016 and they have been more than patient with him. Perhaps a change of scenery would be good for both the player and the organization. The problem is, no NHL team is going to pay a high asking price for a very inconsistent forward. Perhaps draft pick outside of the first round. It will be interesting to see how Edmonton decides to handle this situation. Puljujarvi is a restricted free agent at the end of this season.
According to Elliotte Friedman, the Edmonton Oilers continue to try and extract a 2nd round pick from a team in exchange for Puljujarvi. But this is the same return they asked for all summer and didn't receive. At this point for the Oilers, the real victory here would be clearing Puljujarvi's entire salary without having to retain any money. This would help the Oilers fit Evander Kane's full cap hit back into their lineup once he is healthy, but would also open up space for potential deadline additions.
