Yesterday morning, former 1st overall pick, GM of the Tampa Bay Lightning, and NHL Agent Brian Lawton was on Oilers Now (630CHED) with Bob Stauffer. During his appearance, Stauffer asked him what the realistic course of action was in terms of the deployment of Jesse Puljujarvi and this is what Lawton had to say,
“He’s going to get some freshness in terms of a new manager and a new coach and I think that’s really going to help him. He really went over and worked on his game, I think that’s fantastic. The whole move that he went through probably didn’t feel great for the club, but having been there in that position, I think it has the potential to be really great for Jesse.
The analysis on him is that the hockey sense maybe isn’t as great as some people had thought or hoped. That could be true, but there’s a lot to be said for confidence in the National Hockey League, particularly when you’re a high pick and this I know from having been there.
I was drafted the same year as Steve Yzerman and I can remember playing those guys in exhibition. I played all of the time and had three or four points in a game and Stevie maybe had gotten an assist, got beat up a little bit. Their team wasn’t very good and we came back and played them in the regular season and I remember at one point he (Yzerman) had like 37 goals and I had like ten.
I attribute a lot of that to opportunity and confidence. In my case, not comparing myself to Stevie, he was a hundred times better that me, but I understand what Jesse potentially was dealing with when it didn’t come together maybe as quickly as people would’ve wanted.
So going back to Europe and having a chance to build that confidence up from the ground, feel really good about your game. The way he played in the Finnish league was spectacular. I’m very excited to see how he does, what he does, how Dave Tippett handles him, how Ken Holland speaks to him, and see if he can change the narrative about what’s really just the first inning in a what hopefully is a long career. I’m super excited for Jesse!
Fun Fact: Brian Lawton wore #98 for Team USA during the 1984 Canada Cup.
Do you know anybody else who wears that number?
Stauffer followed that up with a question regarding where Lawton thinks Puljujarvi would slot into the Edmonton Oilers lineup.
I think that’s going to be a “feel” decision for Dave Tippett and the coaching staff when they get him in there and see how he fits in. If he looks at all like he’s going to need another step coming back, but I think you can comforably play him with a third center in Kyle Turris. That’s a guy who has a proven touch in this league that might make it easier for him (Puljujarvi) to acclimatize himself back onto the team.
He doesn’t have to start in a top-six role. When you get picked 4th overall, certainly in the top 5,6,7 players, teams are generally looking at you as a top-six forward or a top-four D. In the end, that’s just what teams are looking for, but that doesn’t mean that’s where you’ll end up.
I think it will be fine to start him in a third line role. I think it would be incredibly detrimental if he only ends up on the fourth line, personally.
Aside from the obvious injury or trade, I can’t see any scenario where Puljujarvi doesn’t start the 2020-21 NHL season on the 3rd line with Kyle Turris as his center. Now, I don’t believe the coaching staff has to treat Jesse like he’s some fragile piece of china, but I’m sure they’ll bring him along at the proper pace and give him an extra shift or game if he needs it should there be a bumpy transition off the bat.
What Pulju will need to show is that he’s matured since he was last in Edmonton. In the Finnish media, he’s saying all the right things, but we’ve got to see if he can bring the young man, who’s part of the leadership group in Karpat, to an Oilers club that could really use some bottom-six scoring.
So, since Jason Bonsignore isn’t available, there’s one person who we should be listening to, and that’s probably Lawton since he’s gone through the exact same ups and downs that Puljujarvi has, save for going overseas and spending a season plus with a European club and then returning to the NHL. He can speak to everything from a first-hand experience point-of-view.
Our hope for Jesse being that he can carve out a much more successful career in North America than Lawton did.
It’s a bit of a breath of fresh air to listen to NHL pundits actually speak positively about Jesse. Every time you go around a corner in Edmonton there’s a local journalist slagging The Grinnin’ Finn in one way or another.
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