Jesse Puljujärvi

Jesse Puljujärvi
Puljujärvi in 2016
Born (1998-05-07) 7 May 1998
Älvkarleby, Sweden
Height 6 ft 4 in (193 cm)
Weight 215 lb (98 kg; 15 st 5 lb)
Position Right wing
Shoots Right
NHL team
Former teams		 Edmonton Oilers
Hokki
Oulun Kärpät
National team  Finland
NHL Draft 4th overall, 2016
Edmonton Oilers
Playing career 2014–present

Jesse Puljujärvi (Finnish: [ˈje̞sse̞ ˈpuljuˌjærvi]; born 7 May 1998) is a Finnish professional ice hockey player for the Edmonton Oilers in the National Hockey League (NHL). Rated as a top prospect, Puljujärvi was drafted fourth overall by the Oilers in the 2016 NHL Entry Draft.[1]

Playing career

European hockey

Puljujärvi began his hockey career and Fin-Jr. league debut in 2013–14 with the Kärpät Jr. hockey team. In the two seasons he participated in, Puljujärvi recorded 23 points in 18 games and 18 points in 11 games.

Puljujärvi made his Liiga debut playing with Kärpät during the 2014–15 Liiga season. Leading up the NHL draft, he was ranked as the number three European skater. He was described as a big, mobile, skilled, an all-around winger who can score and pass.[2]

Puljujärvi was sent down mid-season and made his Mestis debut in 2014–15 with Kärpät affiliate Kajaanin Hokki. He finished the season with 13 points in 15 games. During the season, Puljujärvi was considered good enough again, that he was sent to the Kärpät hockey team to continue his career there. Kärpät would be his final team before he would be drafted into the NHL.

In 2015–16, his first full season with Kärpät, Puljujärvi played in 50 Liiga games, scoring 28 points (13 goals and 15 assists), as well as in ten playoff games with four goals and five assists. He also competed in the Champions Hockey League (CHL) with the club, recording 2 assists in 13 games but remained goalless.[3]

Puljujarvi would then leave the team and European hockey altogether, as he would be drafted into the NHL as the fourth overall pick by the Edmonton Oilers.

North American hockey

Puljujärvi signed a three-year, entry-level contract with the Edmonton Oilers on 13 July 2016.[4] He opted to wear sweater #98 with the team, making him the first NHL player to do so since 1985, when Brian Lawton wore the number in a regular season game. After making the Oilers opening night roster for the 2016–17 season, he made his NHL debut on opening night with the Oilers in which he scored his first career NHL goal on 12 October 2016.

After just 28 games, Puljujärvi was sent down to the Oilers' American Hockey League (AHL), the affiliate Bakersfield Condors, for more development time. During his tenure at the AHL, Puljujärvi was able to score 12 goals and 16 assists in 39 games.

Puljujärvi returned to the Oilers in the 2017 NHL pre-season. In his best game so far for the Oilers, Puljujärvi scored two goals and an assist to help the Oilers extend their winning gap against the Winnipeg Jets. Because of Puljujärvi's pre-season rout, he was selected to take the first line position along with Patrick Maroon and Connor McDavid, beginning at the Edmonton Oilers–Carolina Hurricanes pre-season game.[5] Puljujärvi would then retake the fifth line, but would eventually be sent down to the Condors once again for more development.[6][7] He was put back on the Oilers lineup on 10 November 2017, replacing Anton Slepyshev, who was injured at the time.[8]

On 20 January 2018, Puljujärvi registered a career-high three-point game, recording one goal and two assists against the Vancouver Canucks. This would also mark the first time Puljujärvi received a first star for a game.[9][10]

International play

Medal record
Representing  Finland
Men's ice hockey
IIHF World U18 Championship
2015 Switzerland
2016 United States
IIHF World U20 Championship
2016 Finland

Puljujärvi helped team Finland win silver medal at the 2015 IIHF World U18 Championships in Switzerland.

Puljujärvi played for Finland at the 2016 World Junior Championships, where they won gold on 5 January 2016. In seven games, he scored 5 goals and 12 assists for 17 points, placing him second in all-time points for an under-18 player behind only Jaromír Jágr, and tying Wayne Gretzky and Eric Lindros.[11] He was subsequently declared Best Forward and Most Valuable Player of the tournament. Later that year, Puljujärvi was also a part of the national team at the 2016 World U18 Championships, winning another gold medal, becoming the first and so far the only European player to win a U20 and U18 gold medal in the same year.

Personal life

Puljujärvi was born to Finnish parents in Sweden and lived there until he was four, though culturally, he identifies as Finnish. He holds both Finnish and Swedish citizenship.[12] In his free time, he also likes playing ice hockey with neighbourhood kids.[13]

Career statistics

Regular season and playoffs

Regular season Playoffs
Season Team League GP G A Pts PIM GP G A Pts PIM
2013–14 Kärpät Jr. Fin-Jr. 181211234 127072
2014–15 Kärpät Jr. Fin-Jr. 111261810 52134
2014–15 Kärpät Liiga 21471110 —————
2014–15 Hokki Mestis 15 8 5 13 8 3 0 1 1 0
2015–16 Kärpät Liiga 50 13 15 28 22 9 3 4 7 2
2016–17 Edmonton Oilers NHL 28 1 7 8 10 — — — — —
2016–17 Bakersfield Condors AHL 39 12 16 28 10 — — — — —
2017–18 Bakersfield Condors AHL 10 1 4 5 4 — — — — —
2017–18 Edmonton Oilers NHL 65 12 8 20 14 — — — — —
NHL totals 9313152824 — — — — —

International

Year Team Event Result GP G A Pts PIM
2014 Finland IH18 5th 4 3 2 5 4
2015 Finland WJC18 2nd, silver medalist(s) 7 2 5 7 4
2015 Finland WJC 7th 5 0 0 0 0
2016 Finland WJC18 1st, gold medalist(s) 4 5 2 7 2
2016 Finland WJC 1st, gold medalist(s) 7 5 12 17 0
Junior totals 27 15 21 36 10

Awards and honors

Award Year
colspan="International
IIHF World U18 Championship silver medal 2015
IIHF World U18 Championship gold medal 2016
IIHF World U18 Championship All-Star Team 2016
IIHF World Junior Championship gold medal 2016
IIHF World Junior Championship All-Star Team 2016
IIHF World Junior Championship Best Forward 2016
IIHF World Junior Championship Most Valuable Player 2016

References

  1. ↑ "ISS Hockey releases top 30 for January". isshockey.com. 2016-01-03. Retrieved 2016-05-02.
  2. ↑ "Matthews tops Central Scouting international rankings". NHL.com. Retrieved 2016-04-12.
  3. ↑ "Statistics | Champions Hockey League". www.championshockeyleague.net. Retrieved 2016-07-13.
  4. ↑ "Oilers sign Puljujarvi". Edmonton Oilers. 2016-07-13. Retrieved 2016-07-13.
  5. ↑ Matheson, Jim (2017-09-25). "Oilers Game Day: Jesse Puljujarvi starts on top line against Carolina Hurricanes". Edmonton Journal. Retrieved 2017-09-25.
  6. ↑ "Oilers send Puljujarvi to Condors and put Fayne on waivers". Global News. Retrieved 2017-10-01.
  7. ↑ "Edmonton Oilers send Jesse Puljujarvi to AHL, smart move for player and team". Edmonton Journal. 2017-10-01. Retrieved 2017-10-01.
  8. ↑ "Oilers recall Jesse Puljujarvi, place Anton Slepyshev on IR - Sportsnet.ca". Sportsnet.ca. Retrieved 2018-01-21.
  9. ↑ "Sportsnet.ca Live Tracker". www.sportsnet.ca. Retrieved 2018-01-21.
  10. ↑ Van Diest, Derek (21 January 2018). "Puljujarvi propels Oilers past Canucks". NHL.com. Edmonton. Retrieved 21 January 2018.
  11. ↑ "Puljujärvi jagar storheter som Jagr och Gretzky | yle". yle.fi. 2015-01-02. Retrieved 2015-01-05.
  12. ↑ "Jesse Puljujärven passiasiat hämmentävät NHL:ssä - Ruotsin vai Suomen kansalainen?". Iltalehti.fi (in Finnish). Retrieved 26 April 2017.
  13. ↑ CBC news (Jan 18, 2018) article online
Awards and achievements
Preceded by
Connor McDavid		 Edmonton Oilers first round draft pick
2016		 Succeeded by
Kailer Yamamoto
This article is issued from Wikipedia. The text is licensed under Creative Commons - Attribution - Sharealike. Additional terms may apply for the media files.