Jesse Puljujarvi (65GP-14G-22A)
After an offseason where most of Edmonton Oilers fans assumed that Jesse Puljujarvi would be traded, it looks like he will be back for at least one more season. There is still 2 months till the regular season starts though.
I was floating between Puljujarvi, Yamamoto and Hyman for my last breakout player, but I ended up choosing Puljujarvi because of all those three I think he has the most to prove. He is coming off a season where he started on fire then COVID hit him and he wasn’t really the same after that.
In the 20 game in October and November last season Puljujarvi had 7 goals and 9 assists. That is a rate of 0.8 points per game. That is an excellent rate to run at considering he doesn’t get major time on the powerplay.
I believe if he would have remained healthy the whole season he would have easily put up 20-25 goals. Unfortunately after COVID he didn’t really seem himself. Once he was starting to get back in the grove he got injured, so his whole second half of his season was mess.
If he has the same start as last season he will have earned his spot on the top line playing with Kane and McDavid. Those three playing 5v5 will be able to rack up an absurd amount of point this season. That is another reason why I chose Puljujarvi as my third spot on this list.
He has the highest point production ceiling out of the three I was considering. Hyman had a career best season last and got 54 points. Yamamoto’s career high is 41 points. I think this season we could see Puljujarvi get at least 50 points.
Edmonton Oilers Stars
I want to put a lot of emphasis on this, if you get the top pick do not take anyone but Connor McDavid. Then if you have the second pick, take Leon Draisaitl. Do not start taking the people on this list till a bit later in your draft.
Evander Kane is not going to get more points than Kucherov. He will likely get the third most points on the Edmonton Oilers, but there is going to be a lot of players that get more points than him around the NHL.
With all this info I hope I have helped you in your draft game. May you picks be wise and your players stay healthy.