Edmonton Oilers Talk: What’s Puljujarvi Worth on his Next Deal and is Hyman Really an Option for Team Canada?

This is your TL/DR (too long, didn’t read) summary post where excerpts are taken from the best of the best when it comes to Edmonton Oilers blogs. BLH gives you his two cents on the latest posts being published in the Oilogosphere! Including those from Lowetide.ca, The Athletic, Oilersnation, The Cult of Hockey, Copper N Blue, Oil on Whyte, and more!

The latest NHL news, rumors, and speculation comes from all of the internet’s top sites like Spector’s Hockey, The Fourth Period, NHL Trade Talk, The Hockey Writers, Sportsnet, and TSN just to name a few!

If you’re short on time but want to keep up with the day’s Oilers news, you’ve come to the right place!

Give us a follow on the socials!

The Hockey Writers

Oilers’ Zach Hyman Making Case for Selection to Team Canada

In 2014, Pittsburgh Penguins’ players Crosby and Chris Kunitz were selected to Team Canada, amidst some controversy around Kunitz’ selection. Many questioned whether Kunitz was the right pick for the team, with the belief that he was picked solely due to playing on Crosby’s line in the NHL, as both players had familiarity with one another.
- While the Penguins players only combined for four points in the tournament, Kunitz scored a goal in the gold-medal game against Sweden and both players were pivotal in Canada winning the gold.
Additionally, in 2010, Team Canada selected a trio of San Jose Sharks to play on the same line — Joe Thornton, Patrick Marleau and Dany Heatley. They showed instant chemistry from having played together in the NHL and it was known as “the Shark Line.” They averaged a goal and an assist per game, while helping Canada win gold on home soil.
Not only can Hyman line-up with McDavid at even strength, but he could also serve on Team Canada’s power play and penalty kill units.
Team Canada always has an abundance of skilled players to choose from to build their roster. When selecting a team; however, it can’t solely be filled with All Star players… Hyman has the potential this year to join the likes of Rob Zamuner (1998), Ryan Smyth (2002), Kris Draper (2006) and Brendan Morrow (2010) — to be the skilled grinder and add sandpaper to the team.
Having chemistry between players in a short tournament like the Olympics is extremely important. With such few games played, coaches don’t have the luxury to just “see” if players click. Just because players are both highly skilled, does not always equal instant chemistry.

BLH’s Thoughts: I’m not convinced that just because Hyman’s stick is impossible to lift on the PP, that he’d be better than Mark Stone on Connor McDavid’s wing fo Team Canada. I mean, Brad Marchand, Steven Stamkos, Ryan O’Reilly, and Jonathan Huberdeau are four others one might consider for that role as well.

Do you remember the U23 North American team that took the World Cup by storm in 2016? Can you name some of the grinders and elite two-way wingers on that team or was it primarily composed of electrifying point producing all-stars?

At the end of the day, this is one huge advertisement and business opportunity for a cash starved NHL in China. Why else would they go with all the global concerns and frosty relationships between the governments of some of the more prominent countries involved?

Oil on Whyte

Jesse Puljujarvi shows the value of patience

If he’d gotten the opportunity, former Oilers general manager Peter Chiarelli would have traded Jesse Puljujärvi for a bag of pucks and a discount coupon for a hotel breakfast buffet. That’s a fact…
…it seemed a season and a half ago, that the best-case scenario would be moving him for something approaching to his original value following a season or two in Finland.
There was a point when Puljujärvi was seen as a likely candidate for trade, or exposure in the Expansion Draft, betting that the Seattle Kraken wouldn’t want to risk their pick on such a potential project.
There also seemed to be some sort of unspoken agreement with Puljujärvi’s agent to push him toward the NHL right from day one. In his rookie season, despite clear struggles on the ice, and rumored similar ones off-ice, he remained with the Oilers for 28 games, toiling away in a fourth-line role, instead of leading a team in minutes and production in the minors.
Puljujärvi is clearly part of the future here and should be extended, in a deal valuing somewhere between Ryan Nugent-Hopkins’ and Zack Hyman’s so that he’s guaranteed to be a long time Oiler.

BLH’s Thoughts: First of all, it’s not a fact that Chiarelli would’ve traded Pulju for pennies on the dollar, that’s an assumption and he DID have plenty of chances to move him for a shit return. It was PC that kept Jesse up with the Oilers when he should’ve been in Bakersfield and McLellan who refused to play him in more optimal scenarios to rebuild his confidence.

Pulju was Chia’s boy. There was no way Petey was giving up on him after Columbus decided to pass on JP and take Dubois.

That being said, IF the Oilers were going to trade him, what the club wanted was value because they’d already gone through the Nail Yakupov debacle and Jess was ripping up the Finnish league, so they were happy to keep him as an asset as he played in Finland. It was believed that he could go home, rekindle his love for the game, rehab from double hip surgery, and it would also give both parties some time to cool down emotionally.

Besides, would you have accepted Alexander Volkov (TB) and a pick, Julien Gauthier (CAR at the time, NYR now) or Henrik Borgstrom (FLA at the time, CHI now) for Puljujarvi? The teams interested in acquiring my boy were trying to fleece Ken Holland and a less experienced GM (Keith Gretzky?) might’ve made the deal to get the situation out of his hair.

As I’m told today, JP was never going to be left unprotected for Seattle, btw.

If Ken Holland can get Jesse to sign on the dotted line for $6M long-term, that would be considered a good deal.

NHLRumors.com

Jay Zawaski: ESPN’s Emility Kaplan on the Chicago Blackhawks head coach Jeremy Colliton: “I’ve talked to a lot of people around the BH organization. They feel like they haven’t deviated from their (rebuild) plan… it’s not a situation if they lose two of the next three, that Jeremy Colliton would be on the way out.”
Pierre LeBrun of The Athletic: The New York Rangers have had very preliminary talks with pending RFA defenseman Adam Fox’s agent Matt Keator… Fox will likely be looking for a deal at over $9 million.
Sources say that New Jersey Devils GM Tom Fitzgerald and Jack Hughes agent Pat Brisson have held preliminary talks about a contract extension… Recent contracts of Nick Suzuki (eight years at $7.875 million per) and Brady Tkachuk (seven years at $8.2 million) will come up in talks.
Charlie Roumeliotis: Scouts listed to attend last night’s Chicago Blackhawks – Vancouver Canucks game include the Anaheim Ducks, Arizona Coyotes, Boston Bruins, Buffalo Sabres, Calgary Flames, Florida Panthers, Minnesota Wild, Montreal Canadiens, New York Islanders, Nashville Predators, Pittsburgh Penguins, Seattle Kraken, Tampa Bay Lightning (2) and Winnipeg Jets.
Adam Kimelman: Scouts listed to attend last night’s Philadelphia Flyers-Boston Bruins game include the Chicago Blackhawks (2), Tampa Bay Lightning (2), Anaheim Ducks, Arizona Coyotes, Columbus Blue Jackets, Detroit Red Wings, Edmonton Oilers, Florida Panthers, Montreal Canadiens, Nashville Predators, New Jersey Devils, Ottawa Senators, Pittsburgh Penguins, San Jose Sharks, Seattle Kraken and the St. Louis Blues.

BLH’s Thoughts: Sorry, some of these snippets are from last week. I wouldn’t read too much into Edmonton scouting that Flyers/Bruins game as they face the Flyers later this week. That said, something’s up or else why would there be so many scouts attending that game?