Jesse Puljujarvi Reaches New Low in Pittsburgh, Move Appears Imminent
It seems that former Oilers fan favorite Jesse Puljujarvi is continuing to lose the trust of his coach in Pittsburgh Mike Sullivan as he has reached a new low with the Pittsburgh Penguins.
Many felt that he would be a good fit with the Penguins and early on in his time in Pittsburgh it seems that was the right call. But over the past several weeks, it seems that is not the case and there are serious questions about his defensive abilities especially in the defensive zone.
Pujujarvi was drafted by the Oilers in 2016, first round 4th overall. His tenure with the Oilers lasted from 2016 all the way through 2023 where he had many years of inconsistency and low offensive output.
His defensive game also was inconsistent as he had been a plus player and a strong minus player in the plus minus column.
It became clear the Oilers had to move on from him and then he was traded in 2023 to the Carolina Hurricanes where he played 17 games and only had two assists and was a - 2.
During the offseason, he had major hip surgery which questioned if he would ever play hockey again but after some intense therapy and rehab, he was able to re establish his career and was picked up by the Pittsburgh Penguins.
His production has been quite low even though his underlying numbers in some cases have put him as one of the top offensive players in terms of opportunity on the Penguins. But in this business production means everything especially for an offensive player and his numbers are not showing.
He's also been a liability defensively which seems to have cost him his spot as he currently is 21 games in the season with three goals and five assists for eight points and as a - 2 with his last game being Dec 7th as he is a healthy scratch.
At the end of this season, he will become an unrestricted free agent after he had signed a two year deal with the Penguins worth $1.6 million which held a cap hit of $800,000 per season.
Only time will tell if he could find a way to show Sullivan that he can be trusted especially in his own end and get back on to the lineup.
