Edmonton Oilers: Jesse Puljujarvi vs Kailer Yamamoto
The Edmonton Oilers have continued their hot start to the season, currently sitting at 6-1-0. The team looks solid, and continues to impress everyone around the league. The weak spots that we’ve seen in the past have been attended too, the goaltending issues seem to have been solved and the coaching staff has depth all around the lineup, and the minors to work with on a nightly basis. Thankfully the Oilers have yet to be hit with an injury bug, so there are no big issues the Oilers face right now but as for the off-season, that’s a different story.
Kailer Yamamoto and Jesse Puljujarvi both have one season left on their contracts. Yamamoto re-signed on a one year deal just before the season started, and Puljujarvi is in the last year of the two year contract he signed in 2020.
Based on their respective performances over the past couple of seasons, it’s no surprise they both will want a raise, and likely some long term stability to help them win a championship in Edmonton. It’s not certain that the Oilers will have to choose between the two, but if Koskinen keeps playing as stellar as he has, and expiring players like Benson and Perlini begin producing well that may change, but lets break it down.
Kailer Yamamoto
Yamamoto is a fan favorite, the 23 year old Spokane born forward has put up 52 points over 112 games with the Oilers since being drafted 22nd overall in the 2017 NHL Entry Draft.
While playing for the Spokane Chiefs in the WHL, Yamamoto played a total of 230 games and had an impressive 291 points in those games. Scouts around the NHL were impressed by his skill for someone only standing at 5’8 even drawing comparisons to Flames forward Johnny Gaudreau, but his height was definitely a reason for teams passing on him.
The Oilers took him at #22, and he was sent back to Spokane right away, but not before putting up 3 points in his 9 game stint with the team. Upon his return to Spokane, Yamamoto put up 64 points in 40 games. Which was good enough for 4th on the team in points, while playing roughly 30 games less then the 3 players ahead of him.
To start the 2021-22 season, Yamamoto has no points in 7 games with 4 penalty minutes and an even plus minus. Aside from a lackluster offensive start, it shouldn’t be the deciding factor, his forechecking ability along with his improved defensive ability is something that should be noted. Some would argue that playing with someone like Draisaitl who’s arguably a top two player in the league, as well as Nugent-Hopkins who has started the season on an absolute tear with his almost perfect playmaking ability should make it no excuse to have no points yet, and although this may be true, his impact away from the puck makes it hard to want to shove him into the bottom 6 just yet, the points will likely be coming sooner than later.