New York Rangers: Pros and cons for making a move for Puljujarvi
Talent hunting never stops in the NHL and it is only natural that the New York Rangers are looking to bolster their roster as they head into the final phase of the rebuild.
Although they dramatically changed the makeup of their roster during the off-season after adding Artemi Panarin, Jacob Trouba, Kaapo Kakko and Adam Fox, the New York Rangers are still on the hunt for fresh talent.
And that is why we shouldn’t be surprised by the reports linking the Blueshirts with Jesse Puljujarvi, who is currently exiled from the NHL in Finland.
According to Chris Johnston of Sportsnet, there are a handful of teams mulling over a move for Puljujarvi with the Rangers expressing “persistent interest.”
Puljujarvi is an intriguing case study given that he has yet to really set the NHL on fire, despite being the fourth overall pick in the 2016 NHL Entry Draft.
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Although the talent is clearly there, it hasn’t quite worked out for the right wing in North America and his relationship with the Edmonton Oilers is said to be strained at best.
Currently in Finland with Karpat, Puljujarvi has potted 11 goals and tallied nine assists for 20 points through 18 games in Liiga, and the player is thought to be keen on a return to the NHL.
This is where it gets interesting. Puljujarvi requested a trade out of Edmonton in June and didn’t sign his qualifying offer, although the Oilers still hold his NHL rights.
That is key because if Puljujarvi doesn’t sign an NHL contract by the Dec. 1 RFA Deadline, then he cannot play in the remainder of the 2019-20 NHL season.
So, the Edmonton Oilers are going to have to decide whether to either try to sign Puljujarvi to a contract or trade him, which seems the most likely option at this moment in time.
There is no doubt that Jesse Puljujarvi has the potential to morph into a productive top six forward in the NHL, and we all know that the New York Rangers love a reclamation project, so this could be a match made in heaven.
That being said, let’s run over the pros and cons of any potential trade involving Puljujarvi before taking a look at what the deal might involve…
1. Pros to trading for Puljujarvi
You don’t get selected with the No. 4 overall pick in the 2016 NHL Entry Draft if you don’t possess some talent and, although there is such a thing as a bust, Jesse Puljujarvi has flashed glimpses of his potential.
He has 17 goals and 20 assists for 37 points in 139 career NHL games, including 12 goals and eight assists for 20 points in 65 games during the 2017-18 season.
It is important to note, however, that Puljujarvi wasn’t exactly handled with care by the Oilers given that he was often put in situations that didn’t help to elevate his talents.
For instance, he played a total of 674 minutes on a line with grinder Milan Lucic, while he was never really able to generate any momentum after being constantly sent down to the AHL with the Bakersfield Condors.
That arguably led to the breakdown in the relationship between player and team, and the dysfunction that has existed within the Oilers organization for years now probably didn’t help matters either.
However, Puljujarvi is demonstrating now, albeit in Finland, what he is capable of with those 20 points (11 goals, nine assists) in 18 games for Karpat in Liiga.
He is clearly benefiting from a change of scenery and new surroundings in North America could be the key to unlocking Puljujarvi’s true potential in the NHL.
And this is where the New York Rangers come in. They are stockpiling as much talent as they can at the moment in order to become a dominant contender within the next few years, and they could do with a high-end top six wing.
Puljujarvi ticks that box. He boasts skill, speed, can create and score goals and, at 6’4″ and 201 lbs, he has a big body and a powerful frame that can handle the grueling rigors of an 82-game NHL regular season.
He is also young too. At just 21-years-old Puljujarvi is only just scratching the surface when it comes to developing his game, so it seems somewhat foolish to question his long-term future in the NHL on a less than 200-game sample size.
Some players are late bloomers after all and Puljujarvi may well benefit from being in a better situation in New York, surrounded by fellow high-end young talent with a common goal – to eventually win the Stanley Cup.
The Rangers could do with some help on the right side too. Kaapo Kakko should be the team’s top line right wing for the long-term, but the jury is still out on Pavel Buchnevich and Jesper Fast is a bottom six forward, while Brendan Smith is only a temporary (and expensive) plug-in.
Trading for Jesse Puljujarvi would give the franchise another young stud with plenty of upside and, if given the tools to succeed in The Big Apple, then the 21-year-old could really blossom into a top six star for the New York Rangers.
2. Cons to trading for Puljujarvi
First and foremost, there are question marks hovering over Jesse Puljujarvi’s ability to flourish in North America.
The talent and the skillset is clearly there but there appears to be a mental block in play at the moment, and whether that is just down to being unhappy with the Edmonton Oilers remains to be seen.
What we do know is that Puljujarvi was given an opportunity to play with some elite talent with the Oilers, having played 413 minutes on a line with Connor McDavid and 288 minutes with Leon Draisaitl.
Even the chance to play with one of, if not the best player in the NHL today, failed to spark Puljujarvi into life with the Oilers and that should be treated as a concern going forward.
Puljujarvi tallied nine points (four goals, five assists) in 46 games with the Oilers in 2018-19 and four points (two goals, two assists) in four games for the Bakersfield Condors in the AHL, before undergoing season-ending hip surgery in February.
The relationship between franchise and player had seemingly completely disintegrated by that point, so you could put Puljujarvi’s struggles down to that, but there is reason to be concerned when it comes to predicting the forward’s future in the NHL.
His state of mind when it comes to wanting to succeed in the NHL is the biggest worry, although that could just boil down to the fact that he was unhappy in Edmonton.
Any trade for the young talent would still be a significant risk, though.
Then you have the added caveat that the New York Rangers would have to sign Puljujarvi to a new contract if they were to trade for the player, although they could get him at a discount given his unproven track record in the NHL.
Still, the Blueshirts are hardly flush with cap space and they would have to move one or two bodies as part of any deal with the Edmonton Oilers, which leads us nicely to…
3. What would a trade look like?
Under New General Manager Ken Holland and new Head Coach Dave Tippett, the Edmonton Oilers have been a resurgent force through the opening month of the season.
And, with a generational star in Connor McDavid on your roster, the window to win right now is always going to be wide open.
The Oilers did give McDavid and fellow star Leon Draisaitl some help during the off-season by trading for James Neal, who has 11 goals and two assists for 13 points through 15 games.
However, the rest of their roster still leaves a lot to be desired and there are a plethora of holes to fill before the franchise can look at themselves as a genuine Stanley Cup contender.
Therefore, they will be looking for established NHL players in any potential trade and Chris Kreider immediately springs to mind when projecting the makeup of any trade between Edmonton and the Rangers.
Kreider is currently in the final year of his current deal and speculation over his future in New York has been raging for quite some time now.
He would slot straight into the Oilers’ top six and could work wonders on a line with McDavid given his speed, physicality and net front presence.
Jesper Fast could also be included in any deal, although I would personally be against that given Fast’s importance to this Rangers team, while the front office could also dangle Pavel Buchnevich in-front of the Oilers if they still aren’t sold on the Russian, although that seems unlikely at this point.
Edmonton could also do with some reinforcements on the blueline and between the pipes, and the Blueshirts have some notable trade chips in defenseman Tony DeAngelo and goalie Alexandar Georgiev.
DeAngelo is a puck moving blueliner who could quarterback the Oilers’ power play, while Georgiev’s stock is rapidly rising and it won’t be long before he seeks a starter job in the NHL.
Put it simply, the Rangers have the pieces to acquire Jesse Puljujarvi and they seem a perfect trade partner for the Oilers given Edmonton’s desire to win now.
There is a caveat at play here, however. The Oilers are pressed right up against the cap with just $32,240 left in cap space, and that is with defenseman Adam Larsson on Long-Term Injured Reserve.
So, as a result, the Rangers would have to take one or two contracts on as well in order to make this deal happen, while ensuring they still have enough cap room left in order to sign Jesse Puljujarvi to a new contract.
Sounds complicated? Because it is and any trade would involve some serious math in order to ensure both franchises remain salary cap compliant.
As already mentioned, Puljujarvi is unlikely to cost the earth and shedding Kreider’s contract would allow the Rangers to take back a contract and get any deal over the line.
Conclusion
Overall, trading for Jesse Puljujarvi does make sense for the New York Rangers given where they are at in this current rebuild.
It is a trade that does carry some significant risk given Puljujarvi’s track record in the NHL, but then what trade doesn’t carry some measure of risk?
Puljujarvi is a high draft pick with a plethora of skill, raw speed, a huge frame and all the tools required to morph into a high-end top six forward in the NHL.
His speed and skill could allow him to mesh perfectly on either the first or second line for the Rangers, plus he would only stand to benefit from playing alongside the likes of Artemi Panarin, Mika Zibanejad or Kaapo Kakko.
A new contract shouldn’t cost the earth, plus the Rangers would have the added cap room if they gave up someone in the ilk of Chris Kreider in the trade for Puljujarvi.
The Rangers are building for the future and Puljujarvi, at just 21, would fit into that long-term picture perfectly.
Next. The Brendan Smith experiment. dark
It is clear that the talent is there and, although it would be a risk, it could pay off massively for the New York Rangers if they give Jesse Puljujarvi the platform to learn his craft, develop his skills and truly flourish.