Edmonton Oilers Talk: Giving Puljujarvi His Own Line and Why the Oilers are 5-0-0

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The Athletic

Should Jesse Puljujarvi drive his own line for the Oilers in 2021-22?

There’s a notion that Edmonton should play Puljujarvi away from Connor McDavid at five-on-five and exclude him from the power play in order to suppress his value and potentially lower the cap hit on the next deal… This is a shortsighted idea, and there’s no evidence the Oilers would entertain it.
If Puljujarvi was placed on a line where he was the featured player and succeeded, it would give the Oilers a better idea about how to project him onto the roster in the future — and how much they should be willing to pay him.
Before the Oilers contemplate trading someone higher on the salary cap list, can Puljujarvi serve as the best player on his line? Is he more or a driver than Ryan Nugent-Hopkins?
Could Edmonton run a line featuring Zach Hyman, Nugent-Hopkins and Puljujarvi and then try Draisaitl, McDavid and Yamamoto?
Puljujarvi is going to get paid. Can he lead an outscoring line? If you’ve seen the way the big winger is playing in the early days of the season, there’s zero doubt he is the third-best forward on the team.

BLH’s Thoughts: I would be interested in seeing this experiment played out. When Pulju was a star at the World Juniors playing alongside Sebastian Aho and Patrik Laine, it was hard for defenses to contain him because of his size and speed and strength. His teammates would hit him in stride (akin to the goal he scored this year off of a pass from Cody Ceci) and he would simply overtake the opposition with unmitigated force. He would move around the O-zone and find the soft ice because his role on the ice wasn’t that of a net-front presence.

I think it also helped having the ridiculous talents that were Aho and Laine on his line too though. The individual threat of all three played into how successful that line was, but even with that said, Jesse was the main man in Karpat when he went back and he was still THE alpha dog on the ice without having a couple of NHL all-stars as linemates. He won’t have the chance to be the alpha as long as Connor and Leon are on the team.

I don’t see a Taylor Hall-like line driver in Jesse right now nor do I see a need for one on the Oilers at the moment. Could he be one someday? Undoubtedly so. One question lingers though, what kind of driver would he be? Hall is 100% offense, but Jess is an outstanding defensive winger. Do we know any defensive wingers that are considered line drivers?

I don’t know, I’m enjoying JP’s game as it is at the moment. So, for me, there aren’t really any good reasons to switch things up and this summer, he’s going to get paid regardless. Screwing around with his TOI and deployment would only cause issues across the board.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CaTan9ueVOc

Oil on Whyte

What’s Working And Bringing The Team Their Early Success?

Jesse Puljujarvi

He’s skating miles, shooting (11 SOG), scoring (2G, 5A), taking up net front space, imposing himself on his opposition in the corners, and continuing to display the defensive acumen we saw shades of in his first tenure with the team.

Foegele & Ryan

When on-ice together, the two ex-teammates have outchanced their opposition to the tune of 63% (29-17) of scoring chances and 78% (14-4) of high-danger chances. These results lend credence to the effectiveness of their high-pace, forechecking style which has led to a number of dangerous chances for their line.

Keith w/ Ceci

Like much of the rest of the team, Keith & Ceci have shown well in getting the better of the scoring chance battle (28-20 SC; 14-5 HDC). However, unlike the rest of the team, they have done so under more strenuous circumstances as they’ve been deployed for faceoffs in the defensive and neutral zones 73% of the time.

Evan Bouchard

Bouchard has shown signs of having stepped up his intensity and competitiveness within battles. With 3 points (1G, 2A) and 13 SOG so far…

The Powerplay

Excellent. Magical. Mesmerizing. There’s something to be said for the immense value that consistency of personnel can have on a PP and I think everyone would be wise to keep that in mind in the future.

Faceoffs

With the exception of Nuge, all regular centres sit above 50% with all of McDavid, Draisaitl, Ryan, and Shore sitting above 60%. It’s certainly early and these results tend to fluctuate massively over the course of a season, but the early returns are a welcome sight.

5-on-5 Chance Share

Sitting 7th in the NHL in xGF% (55.4%), the Oilers are keeping themselves ahead of the hitherto lacklustre opposition and part of this has been the team limiting scoring chances against to a rate of 25.5/60, which is good for 10th in the league currently.

BLH’s Thoughts: Of course, the goaltending has held up so far and the play of Hyman, Draisaitl, McDavid, RNH, and Nurse has been very encouraging. The bottom-six isn’t getting caved in anymore would be another noteworthy compliment for this team.

The Hockey Writers News and Rumors

As per TSN’s Chris Johnston, he noted during the latest Insider Trading segment that the Senators are looking for help at center as well as some help on the wing if the right deal is out there. Specifically, they want a top-nine forward.
(Marc) Bergevin spoke with the media and noted this team will have to work its way out of its current funk… behind the scenes, the realization is that the organization can’t really make a change anyways… Elliotte Friedman and Jeff Marek talked about how the club is handcuffed because of the NHL Draft. With it taking place in Montreal this year, Bergevin can’t afford to give up the first-round pick and a shot at Shane Wright.Friedman also noted that if Bergevin makes the wrong move here, it could crush any leverage he has during contract negotiations with the Canadiens or another team as he navigates signing as the GM in Montreal or elsewhere.
(Vitali) Kravtsov has received lukewarm interest from a handful of teams but the Rangers don’t have anything on the table that would be considered a trade they’re close to making. Interested teams include the Calgary Flames, Winnipeg Jets, and Ottawa Senators but there could be others.