Darren Dreger had a Thursday morning radio hit on Edmonton’s TSN 1260 where he talked about the future of Oilers prized prospect, Jesse Puljujarvi, and what sort of value the Oilers’ 1st round pick holds.
Stay Patient or Deal Him?
“Well, look – they don’t want to get rid of him,”
“My Oilers sources tell me that they’d prefer not to trade Jesse Puljujarvi. And in fact, there’s some who believe that Peter Chiarelli may have gone as far as reaching out to the agent a week or 10 days ago to say that, ‘We’re not trading him.’
This dovetails right into what I said in yesterday’s post. I really don’t think there’s an appetite to deal him right now. Chiarelli has enough heat on him from previous trades that involved young players, I think whether he sees himself as the general manager of the club past this season or not, that he wants to see things through with Puljujarvi.
“But as an organization, is it in the best interests of the organization – Jesse Puljujarvi – to have him play six minutes a night. And I think the answer to that is no. So is this player willing, interested, in going to Bakersfield and continuing to develop and progress in the American Hockey League.
I’m on record as saying I do not support the idea of Puljujarvi going to the minors. I don’t think he’s going to learn anything more down there than he would at the NHL level. There are to reasons I think he only played 6 minutes last night,
- Oilers took more penalties than usual and Jesse still doesn’t have a place on the Oilers’ special teams.
- Hitchcock said he didn’t like his game on the boards.
That’s that and with Hitch, you’d better have your A-game from the get-go or you’re not going to get much TOI.
“Historically, if recent history tells us, that wouldn’t be choice No. 1 for Jesse Puljujarvi. He was okay with it on a short-term stint just prior to Hitchcock taking over the bench from Todd McLellan.
At this point in a player’s career, I wouldn’t give to hoots whether he liked being sent down or not. He’s on his entry-level contract and it’s the team’s decision, not the player’s. If the Oilers send him down, it is what it is.
I wouldn’t complain because I bought Bakersfield’s online package so I can watch all their games. Much more worth it if Jesse is playing down there.
“So now you’ve got a situation if you’re Peter Chiarelli. What do you do with this asset. If your coach isn’t interested in playing him, the player doesn’t want to go to the American Hockey League – he’d rather be traded; then as the GM you’ve got to make a tough call. You can’t just flat-out say, ‘Well, we don’t want to trade him.’ You do have to manage the asset.
I really don’t think this has anything to do with the coach wanting or not wanting to play Pulju. I think he was giving him a bit of tough love and there’s nothing wrong with that. The saving grace here for Jesse is unlike Todd McLellan, Hitchcock hasn’t sat him for a week in the press box. He’s still playing over guys like Ryan Spooner and Ty Rattie.
I disagree with that last statement too. The general manager CAN say “We don’t want to trade you.” He can also add to that, “We see a ton of potential in you but things aren’t going as smoothly as we’d like and we feel that you could use a bit more time with Jay down in Bakersfield. You’ll get all the minutes you can handle and when we see fit, we’ll call you back up. We’re not giving up on you at all and we hope you won’t give up on us either. There’s a future for you in the top-6 here Jesse, it’s just not at this very moment.”
Not only would that buy both the organization time but it would also buy the player time. It would present an opportunity for Pulju to improve his value to his team and possibly to the trade market.
It wouldn’t be my choice but we’re already getting fans saying they should trade him because they feel it would be better for his career. I disagree with that sentiment. I’d rather have him in Edmonton under their supervision that bouncing around the league like Nail Yakupov did before he went back home to Russia.
There’s a player there and it’s just taking some extra time for him to realize his potential. I can’t wait to hear what Gregor and Rishaug have to say about him later. They’ve got a 4-day streak going and I don’t imagine they’ll be breaking it today. But I’ll bet they’ll talk about Jesse, the AHL, and/or trading him… Too predictable.
The First Rounder
“I wouldn’t say that they’re shopping it hard,” cautioned Dreger. “It’s just an acknowledgment of the needs of the Edmonton Oilers. It’s been well-documented they’d like to add a Top-4 defenseman if they can, and they’re so bold that they’d like to add a top-six forward as well.
Pretty obvious news here. I mentioned this as well yesterday and Bob Stauffer has been talking about the Oilers using the 1st round pick to acquire the missing link to their power play… A shooter. Someone with term. Meaning a player who has a few years left on his contract or a player who is quite a few years away from UFA status.
“Well, you don’t acquire those pieces – in fact, it’s next to impossible to do in the regular season anyway, regardless of the trade deadline – but you do not acquire those pieces unless you’re willing to include something like a first-round pick. That seems to be the currency, and has been for the last five-plus years. Even for the rental market, you go up to the trade deadline and everybody is asking for the first-round pick, plus, plus.
Apparently, all the good young players with term or shooters who could be available are sitting in the Pacific division and I’ve been told that the Oilers do not want to deal within the division… So no Toffoli, Kase, Carter, Silfverberg, Montour, or Muzzin…
“When you’re talking about the pieces that I’ve outlined – either an impact forward or a top D-man, then it is going to be a first-round pick, plus a prospect, plus maybe a younger roster player.
That’s pretty close to what Tomas Tatar cost Vegas last year, right? He didn’t pan out for them then but he’s having a fine season in Montreal right now.
So what about a player like Anthony Mantha? He’s having a down year to date. If I recall correctly, he’s played 33 games and has 11 goals and 7 assists. Would that be the kind of player you’d pay a 1st rounder and a prospect for? I might.
“So I don’t think the Oilers are sending emails out saying, ‘Yes, we’ve got a first-round pick that we’re willing to give up.’ I think that’s just an acknowledgment that they’re open for business and they recognize that to get quality they’re going to have to give up quality, including that pick.”
What do you think about Dreger’s comments? Let us know in the comments below!
Quotes courtesy of Nichols on Hockey
