Edmonton Oilers Talk: Trading Puljujarvi and Woody’s 3rd Line Conundrum for Game 2

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Oil on Whyte

2 Mock Trades for Jesse Puljujarvi

Trade #1

To Dallas: Jesse Puljujarvi
To Edmonton: Joel Kiviranta, Mavrik Bourque, 2nd round pick
- The Stars have been rather quiet lately as far as trades go but with the team looking to become contenders quite soon, the move to bring in Puljujarvi could add some much needed offensive depth.
- This trade gives the Oilers a boost to their already stacked prospect pool, as well as gives almost a direct replacement for Puljujarvi.

Trade #2

To Tampa: Jesse Puljujarvi
To Edmonton: Pat Maroon, Nick Paul, 2nd round pick
- This would have to be a sign and trade for both sides. Puljujarvi is an RFA, while Paul is a UFA. Both guys would have to agree to new contracts with their new teams before the trade goes through. The Oilers also bring back Maroon, who is famous for having a career year alongside Connor McDavid. Paul and Puljujarvi will likely sign similar contracts as far as cap hits go as well.

BLH’s Thoughts: I do think that it would be best for Jesse to reach his potential on another club because he’s always tasked with playing alongside Connor but recently the Oilers captain has shown some hesitation with regards to including JP in the play.

I think it’s a shame that Pulju is seen as a net-front dummy or the guy that chases down the puck for McDavid in Edmonton. I see him as much more than that and I think he believes he’s much more but he’s a soldier that’ll do what he’s told. To an extent you have to respect that he wants to earn his stripes but on the other hand, you want him to be in a system that will allow him to spread his wings a bit.

So, getting back to a potential trade…

Nothing against Pulju, but I don’t think there will be a lot of teams willing to mortgage a really good prospect for him as his goal scoring seems to dry up after the first month of the season nor do I think Holland would make a trade for Maroon, a UFA, and a 2nd round pick. They tried to get Nick Paul at the deadline, mind you. So who knows?

If I were Holland, and this is a tad controversial so hold on to your hat, I might give Steve Yzerman a call and see what it’d take to get Filip Hronek out of Detroit as it sounds like the dman could be looking to get out of the Motor City. Maybe expand the deal to include Filip Zadina… Holland should be looking for players who can play now more so than futures if he’s moving Jesse and Hronek, a right shot, just put up 38pts for a bad Red Wings club. How would Puljujarvi and Lucas Raymond look on line one in Detroit?

Bingo!

h/t to @JasonGregor #letsgooilers pic.twitter.com/3I0HmAMXWx

— BLH (Edmonton Oilers Enthusiast} (@BeerLeagueHeroe) May 4, 2022

The Athletic

Should Oilers play Jesse Puljujarvi and Ryan Nugent-Hopkins on same line?

…an RNH-Puljujarvi pairing is something Woodcroft and his staff should strongly consider deploying at five-on-five if not in Game 2, then at some point in this series.
Nugent-Hopkins played 12 minutes at five-on-five and the Oilers were out-attempted 17-14 and outscored 2-0. He seemed a step behind.
Puljujarvi, meanwhile, played a team-low 7:52 with no time on special teams.
Nugent-Hopkins needs a winger who can help him drive play… Though Puljujarvi has struggled to produce with just four goals and 13 points in his last 37 regular season games, the Oilers had a 70 percent goal share with him on the ice at five-on-five over that span. That’s not insignificant.
A line switch might also give Puljujarvi some weaker matchups, away from Anze Kopitar and Phillip Danault, to perhaps score a goal and regain a bit of confidence.
The worst-case scenario is likely that a trio headlined by Nos. 93 and 13 plays to a draw but provides quality minutes where the puck spends more time in the Kings zone.
The one drawback to this RNH-Puljujarvi proposal is the Oilers would have to live with losing most faceoffs since Nugent-Hopkins wouldn’t always have Ryan around for support.
There are situations where it might behoove the coaching staff to replace Puljujarvi with Ryan such as late in periods in the defensive zone.
…it’s unlikely to happen. Nugent-Hopkins and Puljujarvi have played a grand total of 70 minutes together at five-on-five across the 55 games where they’ve both been in the lineup.

BLH’s Thoughts: I’m not opposed to this idea and Bob Stauffer was talking about it with Mark Spector on yesterday’s Oilers Now, so there might be a bit of credence to it.

Derek Ryan was 6-1 on the dot in game one and I would have to agree with DNB as to there being a concern with taking him off of Nuge’s wing. I mean McDavid and RNH had faceoff win percentages under 37% in that game and if they’re up around 50% each, I think the result might’ve been a bit different. They can’t have Leon and Ryan taking all of the draws, so Nugey and Connor are going to have to bear down here or Woodcroft is going to have to come up with a different plan.

Now, I suppose they could insert Devin Shore because he can take a draw and he plays on the PK, but who do you take out at that point? You can’t take out McLeod and I’m not even sure you can take Zack Kassian out while the team is in Edmonton and you’re not sitting Ryan… That would mean that they’d have to go 12-6 instead of 11-7 so a dman could spend the night in the press box and is Darnell Nurse healthy enough to do that?

Trade Rumors

Spector’s Hockey

Rick Dhaliwal tweeted that J.T. Miller’s agent Brian Bartlett said his client has made re-signing with Vancouver one of his goals. He wants to help the club go forward and would be happy to sign a contract extension this summer.
Charlie O’Connor reports Philadelphia Flyers general manager Chuck Fletcher is hoping to replicate his 2019 offseason success this summer… O’Connor believes Fletcher will attempt one big acquisition, more of a traditional hockey trade (player-for-player) and a smaller buy using B-tier assets. He’ll also need to hire a new head coach.

NHLRumors.com

Winnipeg Jets GM Kevin Cheveldayoff said that forward Mark Scheifele hasn’t asked for a trade. They haven’t had their exit meeting yet.
Sharks defenseman Marc-Edouard Vlasic has four years left at $7 million per. He played well on the third pairing but the Sharks could use the salary cap space… Will the Sharks consider buying him out?
The Senators were believed to be close to trading forward Colin White at the deadline and he could be moved this offseason. The Montreal Canadiens may have been the team interested in White.
Kevin Fiala of the Minnesota Wild has been linked to the Senators. The Wild will try to find a way to fit in an extension for the RFA as opposed to trading him but they may be not able to.