Oilers Dumping Fan Favourite in Cap Dump Trade Led to Best Move in Recent Seasons
The Edmonton Oilers made one of the best trades in recent memory to acquire Mattias Ekholm for Tyson Barrie, but it wouldn't have been possible if not for the unpopular decision to dump Jesse Puljujarvi.
Now with the Pittsburgh Penguins, Puljujarvi is back in the news for being on the last legs of his NHL career after being placed on waivers.
Needless to say, dumping the fan favourite in Puljujarvi turned out to be an essential move for the Oilers success. Shipping out Puljujarvi and his $3M salary for Patrik Puistola turned out to be essential to adding Ekholm and his $6.25M salary.
With reports that Puljujarvi is now falling out of the league just 3 seasons later, it's looking the Ken Holland did the right move in this case to ship out the Bison King.
How Shipping Out Jesse Puljujarvi Led to Oilers Best Trade in Mattias Ekholm
Shedding Puljujarvi's $3M with no salary in return, as well as attaching Barrie and his $4.5M opened the space for Skholm.
Without Mattias Ekholm, this Oilers squad may barely be a playoff team. It was easily Ken Holland's best move to ship out Barrie and replace him with the Swedish two-way force to anchor Edmonton's top pair.
There's a separate argument entirely that Jesse Puljujarvi should be an NHL player. He's always produced good analytical results, and even this year is clearly not the worst option on the Penguins.
He should be playing, but has been riding the bench for the entire month of December, and now has been passed on by every other NHL team.
As a free agent at the end of the year, he may be headed back to Europe for his next team. Looking back on it all, the Oilers are blessed to get out with Ekholm.
