Oiler: One Early Breakout Candidate To Watch This Season
By Jim Lynch
Jesse Puljujarvi is entering his fifth season in the NHL after being drafted fourth overall by the Edmonton Oilers in 2016. It has been an up and down rollercoaster for Puljujariv, but this season should only be up for the young forward.
Edmonton Oilers’ winger Jesse Puljujarvi has found a home on a line with Connor McDavid.
Puljujarvi has played in four different seasons in Edmonton. He has played in 194 NHL games, and last year he played in all but one game putting up 25 points during that time. There is no doubt that this upcoming season will be his best year, and probably the year that puts him on a bigger stage.
Right now, Puljujarvi is still considered the young complimentary piece that can be carried on a line with a star-like Connor McDavid. Maybe that is true, but this season will give him the opportunity to prove that wrong.
Puljujarvi’s icetime was at an all-time high last year averaging 15:08 minutes a night, that number should go up even higher in 2021-22. There is no doubt that this will be Puljujarvi’s first year playing a full season. He played a shortened season last year and before that the most he played was 65 games in 2017-18, but that was while being in the bottom six.
In 2021-22 Puljujarvi is going to have a golden opportunity. He will be on a line with Connor McDavid and Zach Hyman, two of the best players in the league. He will have a chance to prove that he is worth the big bucks, especially during a contract year for him. I think there is no doubt that Puljujarvi can go from putting up a career-high 25 points last year to putting up 40 to 50 points in 2021-22.
It should not come as a surprise that Puljujarvi has good analytics as well. His Corsi was at 55.1 percent last year and maybe that was due to being paired with McDavid, but even in the years before that, it has been pretty good as well.
If I was joining any fantasy hockey leagues this season and I was looking for a good pick later in the draft Puljujarvi would be someone to have on the radar. He is young and inexperienced but he is going to be playing on a line with McDavid.
This is going to be a good year for Puljujarvi and I cannot wait to watch it unfold!