Coming up this offseason the Edmonton Oilers are going to have re-sign or sign players in order to fill in roster spots of the players that are either moving on to another team or retiring. Unfortunately for the Edmonton Oilers they don’t have much cap space to get this done easily.
This means that Ken Holland is going to have to make some tough decisions on who he is going to want to stay and who is going to have to move on from the Edmonton Oilers. One of the biggest choices for Ken Holland is will he be able to keep both Kailer Yamamoto and Jesse Puljujärvi.
Looking at the current cap numbers it looks like a very difficult chance that they can sign both to raises. This mean one will get signed and one will get traded. The only question is which way do you go with that move.
Jesse Puljujärvi
Jesse Puljujärvi was an over a 0.5 point/game player last season. As a support player in the top 6 that is about average. He had a hot start to the season then he got hit with the injury and illness bug. After that he had a fairly pedestrian rest of the season and playoffs. In the 16 playoff games he had only 3 points and finished with a +/- or +2.
Puljujärvi is a 6’4″, 201lbs forward who was the 4th overall pick in 2016. I believe there is still room to grow in his game. He showed glimpses of it at the beginning of this season. I would have loved to see his numbers had he not have gotten injured.
Kailer Yamamoto
Kailer Yamamoto averages 0.2 goals per game throughout his NHL career. He had an opposite season of Puljujärvi. He had a sluggish start then started to heat up at the end of the season. In the postseason Yamamoto got more points than Puljujärvi getting 7 points, but his +/- was worse finishing a -6 through the playoffs.
Yamamoto is a 5’8″, 153lbs winger who was picked 22nd overall in 2017. Currently I think that Yamamoto is the better player out of the two. His size is the only issues. You can’t teach size, I worry that at some point he may get injured going against defenseman that are 7″ taller and 50 lbs heavier than him.
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Edmonton Oilers will Sign one, Trade one
The most likely way that these two players get sorted out is the Edmonton Oilers will sign one of these two RFA’s and trade away the other. This looks like the only way this is going to work, at least cap wise.
One thing we need to look at in trading away one of these players is not only what they can add to the Edmonton Oilers in their play, but what they can bring back in a trade if traded. You have to look at both sides of the coin in these moves.
I personally hope that this is the route the Edmonton Oilers take. I think that Puljujärvi has a higher ceiling than Yamamoto does. Yamamoto is the better player right now, but I think the points he is getting is as much as he will get.
I also think most teams in the NHL will think that way as well. So if you are trading away Yamamoto you will get a lower return on him. Yamamoto is lacking one thing and it is a thing that you can’t teach. You can’t teach him to get bigger.
I believe that if you keep Puljujärvi there is a chance that he turns into the kind of player that Evander Kane is. If he can turn into that then the Edmonton Oilers are winners. The issue is the “if”.
There is a chance that Puljujärvi doesn’t grow as a player at all and the player we had last season is all Puljujärvi will ever be. If that is the case then not keeping Yamamoto would have been a mistake.
If the Edmonton Oilers think that Puljujärvi has maxed out his potential then I think they will keep Yamamoto and trade him. Puljujärvi having the higher potential ceiling means they should get a fairly high market value on the player.
Yamamoto has fit well on the wing when he plays with either Connor McDavid or Leon Drasiastl. He has excellent puck retrival skills and is excellent at finding the open spots when playing with those players.
The problem is when he isn’t playing with those players he doesn’t fit the role of a bottom 6 forward. He isn’t big enough or tough enough to play a tougher styled game. His is much more suited for a skilled role.
Being suite for a skilled role is fine for Yamamoto because that is where he will be playing. Yes Puljujärvi has the ability to play bottom six, but you don’t want him there. You want either of these players to be in your top 6.
Yamamoto has the skills and the ability to never been demoted in the line-up. Puljujärvi has had stretches where he played poor enough to be bumped down. Yamamoto has proven also be able to be used on the penalty kill. This is an added bonus for Kailer.
Wait And See
There is still the chance that Ken Holland can move other pieces around and keep both these players. There is also the chance that Puljujärvi has struggled in Edmonton enough and doesn’t even want to come back as an Oiler.
All that we know for certain is when the puck drops on opening day next season the line-up will be much different than it was on June 5th. Who will stay and who will go will be known only then.
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