Jesse Puljujarvi should be of interest to the New Jersey Devils
With his future in Edmonton uncertain, he could be an undervalued trade target.
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Edmonton Oilers general manager Ken Holland held his end of year availability on Wednesday and was rather non committal on Jesse Puljujarvi’s future with the team.
Couple Holland’s comments with head coach Jay Woodcroft’s playoff usage – Puljujarvi played fewer than 10 minutes (7 times) more than twice as often as he played 12+ (3 times) – and it’s not hard to envision the Oilers cutting the cord this summer.
If they do so, I imagine many analytically-inclined teams will be interested. The Devils should be one of them.
Puljujarvi is a rather divisive player among Oilers fans. The big knocks on him are that he can’t score and that he’s soft/avoids the hard areas of the ice.
There is some truth to the former. Puljujarvi is a 9.1% shooter and has only scored on more than 8.8% of his shots once through parts of five seasons in the NHL. That’s not a whole lot; especially considering he has spent plenty of time with stars like Connor McDavid and Leon Draisaitl.
To say that he won’t go to the dirty areas, though, is flat-out ignorant. Puljujarvi is one of the best in the NHL at getting to the net and generating shots from high-danger areas.
He also excels at winning puck battles and forechecking, which seems strange for someone ‘petrified to play in hard areas.’
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