Earlier this week, the Oilers opted to drop down to a minimum-sized roster in order to get cap-compliant to activate winger Kailer Yamamoto from LTIR. As luck would have it, the flu bug hit the team for yesterday’s game against the Rangers and the team wound up playing short a player as Klim Kostin was unable to suit up. That’s not a viable situation for a playoff contender to have to navigate through for another couple of months before the season comes to an end so there has been an expectation that they will open up some cap space.
Jesse Puljujarvi has been widely speculated as the eventual cap casualty but, for the time being, they haven’t found a trade that works for them. However, Sportsnet’s Mark Spector reports that there is a belief that the Hurricanes have indicated that they are willing to move winger Ondrej Kase (currently on LTIR with a concussion) to Edmonton for Puljujarvi but only after the Finnish winger has cleared waivers. That would allow Carolina to shuffle him back and forth between the AHL if needed while seeing if a change of scenery could help get him going.
It has been quite a fall for the 24-year-old who was the fourth-overall pick in 2016 but hasn’t come close to living up to his draft billing. This season, Puljujarvi has been quite limited offensively, scoring just five goals along with seven assists in 53 games, hardly the type of production they were expecting after he posted 36 points in 65 contests just last season. It’s also hardly the type of return they were hoping for from someone carrying a $3MM cap hit.
Clearly, GM Ken Holland still believes he can salvage some sort of positive value for Puljujarvi as otherwise, he likely would have hit the waiver wire already. If he was to be claimed, they’d free up the full $3MM in cap room and if not, the proposed swap with Carolina would open up $1.5MM in regular cap room and $1.5MM (Kase’s cap hit) in their LTIR pool. While that wouldn’t be a great return by any stretch, it would certainly give them a bit more flexibility to work with as they either look to add a piece by the March 3rd trade deadline or to bring someone back up from AHL Bakersfield to avoid having to play short a player as they did last night. We’ll find out soon enough if Holland is able to find a better option for Puljujarvi than this one.
I wouldn’t trust a thing Spector says. Guy has been trying to force Jesse out of Edmonton for a while now. No surprise he is throwing more crap against the wall again.
Edmonton media is by far the worst in pro sports
And then Pittsburgh.
Keep Jesse, trade Spec
Hes not good in a bottom six role and wouldnt crack the Canes top six. Not sure this makes sense.
Waddell has already dropped the ball by acquiring 2 players with lengthy Injury histories, Kase and Pacioretty, And now he wants a forward that is an AHL All Star at best in Puljujarvi?
They are a legitimate cup contender. It makes zero sense to pursue a guy who is a project at best.
He couldn’t score playing with McDavid.
A weak team who want to take a chance and try to develop him over next season may make sense but not a current contender.
Jp’s problem is mental. Needs to be away from Edmonton then I think he’ll thrive.
Is Edmonton making Puljujarvi mental? Or is it just another piss poor draft pick in Edmontons long history of bad draft picks?
Yes just imagine the pressure he is under playing in the media center of the hockey world… Edmonton.
If only he was in a small market like Montreal, Toronto, New York, Chicago, Boston or Los Angeles.
ok canes1958
I wonder if the Kraken would do this for Driedger
I hope the only conversation Carolina had regarding a trade was what team not called the Carolina Hurricanes was Puljujarvi being traded to…
Swing and a miss.
Resign him to half the cap hit then move a combination or all of Foegle, Yammer and Bouchard for a D and RW
And finally please find a way to get rid of Specs.
Sportsnet needs to find a better representative to cover The Oilers.
I love our play by play talent but jeez our media coverage from Matheson to Specs to these smaller write ups like Brownlee, Laing are just atrocious.
JP is a solid 3rd line player. From shot suppression the numbers are in his favor.
What works against him is $3M and 4th overall.
I like that Kennys taking a patient approach, the cup isnt won in games 60 thru 80
Everything should be on the table in the interest of making the team better.
Specs just do us all a favour and grab Matheson and find a rock to hide.
Go Oilers Go
Never has so much consternation been made about a player that is just…not good. I can’t imagine if this dude was on my team.