Edmonton Oilers: Jesse Puljujarvi shows the value of patience

If he’d gotten the opportunity, former Oilers general manager Peter Chiarelli would have traded Jesse Puljujärvi for a bag of pucks and a discount coupon for a hotel breakfast buffet. That’s a fact, and Edmonton Oiler fans had no idea, back when Chiarelli was let go, just how lucky they were at the time.

Puljujärvi did not develop in a straight line, the story with many young prospects, and it seemed a season and a half ago, that the best-case scenario would be moving him for something approaching to his original value following a season or two in Finland.

JP, as he’s known to many, hasn’t just come back and filled a roster spot on the NHL club, he has excelled. Surpassing any expectations, NHL-equivalencies, or even the hopes of most Oiler fans, he’s been a difference-maker night after night and continues to show improvement since his return last January. If Edmonton’s current general manager, Ken Holland, has a cap limit problem coming up due to the 23-year-old Finn’s performance, well it’s the sort of problem you love to have.

There was a point when Puljujärvi was seen as a likely candidate for trade, or exposure in the Expansion Draft, betting that the Seattle Kraken wouldn’t want to risk their pick on such a potential project. Just imagining that scenario today defies belief. The hole in the lineup created by his departure would be almost un-fillable. Puljujärvi is clearly part of the future here and should be extended, in a deal valuing somewhere between Ryan Nugent-Hopkins’ and Zack Hyman’s so that he’s guaranteed to be a long time Oiler.

So what is the lesson here? Besides giving young offensive prospects the time they need to mature, and the opportunity to play with fellow difference-makers, we can look back and see that other missteps with JP shouldn’t be repeated. Young players need support, especially those with subpar English skills.

Nail Yakupov is a famous bust as the first overall pick, but many forget, he lead all rookies in scoring. He had potential, just as a young Puljujärvi did, and losing both the player and the value the draft pick once held, hurt the team as a whole.

There also seemed to be some sort of unspoken agreement with Puljujärvi’s agent to push him toward the NHL right from day one. In his rookie season, despite clear struggles on the ice, and rumored similar ones off-ice, he remained with the Oilers for 28 games, toiling away in a fourth-line role, instead of leading a team in minutes and production in the minors. Some of that usage may have been due to previous head coach Todd McLellan’s preference for veteran players, but arguably Puljujärvi shouldn’t have been there at all.

The following season saw Puljujärvi yo-yo between the NHL and the AHL, with predictable results. It was no surprise when he declared he’d be returning to Finland, and the story very easily could have ended there. Ken Holland deserves credit for his patience on the Puljujärvi front, and the player himself deserves even more for reassessing the situation in Edmonton and returning with a great attitude and an open mind.

You couldn’t call the Oilers a Cup favorite just yet, despite being 5-0, with questions about their starting goaltender’s health and worrying shots-against totals in most of their games, but if the team makes a bigger impact in the post-season, odds are likely that Puljujärvi will play a key role.