Jesse Puljujarvi wants a change of scenery, and the Boston Bruins could use a little help on the wing.
Sound like a perfect marriage? That’s because it is.
The disgruntled Edmonton Oilers winger has wanted out for some time, and that’s become increasingly apparent this offseason, especially as we near free agency. In his 31 Thoughts column published Wednesday, Sportsnet’s Elliotte Friedman shared the latest on the 21-year-old, and the Bruins were referenced.
“Jesse Puljujarvi’s preference is to resume his NHL career outside of Canada,” Friedman wrote. “Someplace a little quieter. Boston, Carolina and Tampa Bay are among the possibilities.”
While Boston may not be *quiet*, that nugget still is interesting.
First, let’s talk finances.
The Boston Bruins, save for shedding a significant amount of salary through a trade of some kind, likely will be unable to afford much beyond their restricted free agents this offseason, so it’s pretty unlikely Marcus Johansson is back. Pretty much all last season prior to the trade deadline, and when Johansson was hurt, the Bruins struggled offensively on the wings in the middle six, save for Jake DeBrusk. Assuming the Bruins are unable to make a splash in free agency, the only way they can bolster their winger corps is through a trade, or pray that one of the prospects works out (an approach that seldom worked in 2018-19).
Puljujarvi is a restricted free agent and was tendered a qualifying offer from the Oilers. Even if he rejected it, the likelihood of him fetching an AAV with even a remotely significant cap hit seems pretty unlikely. So if the Bruins have to keep the purse-strings tight, reeling in Puljujarvi probably still would be doable.
Furthermore, the Oilers have essentially no leverage in this scenario. Puljujarvi’s agent indicated the winger would play overseas before playing again with the Oilers, so Edmonton pretty much has to move him at this point. That lack of leverage coupled with the likely low cap hit means a team trading for Puljujarvi might not have to give up a ton.
Now, let’s address what he actually brings. If you were to look purely at numbers in the NHL, you understandably wouldn’t be impressed. He’s slashing 17-20-37 in 139 career games, including four goals and five assists in 46 contests this past season. Not great.
However, he’s just three years removed from being selected fourth overall in the draft, which came shortly after he dump-trucked the competition in the 2015 World Juniors, even outclassing linemates Sebastian Aho and Patrik Laine (heard of them?). He’s a big body at 6-foot-4, 201 pounds, but he has good skill, skates well and isn’t a liability defensively.
He hasn’t always tapped into his 200-foot game abilities at the NHL level, hence the reason he averaged less than 12 minutes per game on a garbage Oilers team this past season, but the skill is undeniable. One has to think he just hasn’t tapped into it yet.
With that in mind, this note from Oilers Nation’s Dustin Nielson in March of 2018 is particularly interesting.
The first scouting report I received on Puljujarvi and Laine came from former Oilers d-man turned Finnish hockey analyst Janne Niinimaa. I met Niinimaa while playing in the World’s Longest Hockey Game in 2015 where he was one of my roommates. In February 2016, Janne returned to Edmonton to be (honored) by the Oilers and that’s when I talked to him about the two players. He told me that Laine would make an immediate impact but Puljujarvi would likely develop into a more complete player down the road. The Oilers would have received this same message as they too spoke with Niinimaa about both players at that time.
As Niinimaa notes, he thought Puljujarvi would develop into a complete player over time, not necessarily quickly. Puljujarvi has played in just three pro seasons, all in an organization that has been reprehensibly run for the most part. Using this logic, not only a change of scenery might make sense, but allowing him to continue to grow as well — he won’t turn 22 until May of 2020.
Regardless of the Oilers’ missteps, some of the onus obviously needs to fall on Puljujarvi. But while fully acknowledging that and that any team trading for him is assuming some risk, getting him the hell out of Edmonton appears to be best for both parties at this point. And so long as the return the Bruins would have to send Edmonton’s way is reasonable, there’s no reason why general manager Don Sweeney shouldn’t at least attempt to make a run at Puljujarvi.
