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Edmonton Oilers Top 25 Under 25: #3 Jesse Puljujarvi

By ctravers
Edmonton Oilers v Ottawa Senators Photo by Jana Chytilova/Freestyle Photography/Getty Images
Query Results Table
Scor Scor Goal Goal Per Per Per Per
Rk Player G Tm Pos Season Age GP A PTS EV PP S S% TOI G A PTS S
1 Steven Stamkos 51 TBL C 2009-10 19 82 44 95 26 24 297 17.2 1685 0.62 0.54 1.16 3.62
2 Patrik Laine 44 WPG RW 2017-18 19 82 26 70 24 20 241 18.3 1351 0.54 0.32 0.85 2.94
3 Auston Matthews 40 TOR C 2016-17 19 82 29 69 32 8 279 14.3 1446 0.49 0.35 0.84 3.40
4 Sidney Crosby 39 PIT C 2005-06 18 81 63 102 23 16 278 14.0 1630 0.48 0.78 1.26 3.43
5 Sidney Crosby 36 PIT C 2006-07 19 79 84 120 23 13 250 14.4 1640 0.46 1.06 1.52 3.16
6 Patrik Laine 36 WPG RW 2016-17 18 73 28 64 27 9 204 17.6 1308 0.49 0.38 0.88 2.79
7 Jeff Skinner 31 CAR RW 2010-11 18 82 32 63 25 6 215 14.4 1372 0.38 0.39 0.77 2.62
8 Sebastian Aho 24 CAR RW 2016-17 19 82 25 49 17 6 214 11.2 1377 0.29 0.30 0.60 2.61
9 Matt Duchene 24 COL C 2009-10 19 81 31 55 13 10 180 13.3 1436 0.30 0.38 0.68 2.22
10 Jack Eichel 24 BUF C 2015-16 19 81 32 56 16 8 238 10.1 1549 0.30 0.40 0.69 2.94
11 Nathan MacKinnon 24 COL C 2013-14 18 82 39 63 16 8 241 10.0 1422 0.29 0.48 0.77 2.94
12 John Tavares 24 NYI C 2009-10 19 82 30 54 13 11 186 12.9 1477 0.29 0.37 0.66 2.27
13 Jonathan Toews 24 CHI C 2007-08 19 64 30 54 17 7 144 16.7 1195 0.38 0.47 0.84 2.25
14 Clayton Keller 23 ARI C 2017-18 19 82 42 65 17 6 212 10.8 1483 0.28 0.51 0.79 2.59
15 Dylan Larkin 23 DET C 2015-16 19 80 22 45 19 4 221 10.4 1324 0.29 0.28 0.56 2.76
16 Steven Stamkos 23 TBL C 2008-09 18 79 23 46 14 9 181 12.7 1180 0.29 0.29 0.58 2.29
17 Taylor Hall 22 EDM LW 2010-11 19 65 20 42 14 8 186 11.8 1184 0.34 0.31 0.65 2.86
18 Gabriel Landeskog 22 COL LW 2011-12 19 82 30 52 16 6 270 8.1 1526 0.27 0.37 0.63 3.29
19 Peter Mueller 22 PHX C 2007-08 19 81 32 54 15 7 201 10.9 1398 0.27 0.40 0.67 2.48
20 Patrick Kane 21 CHI RW 2007-08 19 82 51 72 14 7 191 11.0 1506 0.26 0.62 0.88 2.33
21 Pierre-Luc Dubois 20 CBJ LW 2017-18 19 82 28 48 14 6 165 12.1 1364 0.24 0.34 0.59 2.01
22 Nico Hischier 20 NJD C 2017-18 19 82 32 52 19 1 180 11.1 1337 0.24 0.39 0.63 2.20
23 Anze Kopitar 20 LAK C 2006-07 19 72 41 61 11 7 193 10.4 1479 0.28 0.57 0.85 2.68
24 Jeff Skinner 20 CAR RW 2011-12 19 64 24 44 16 4 210 9.5 1192 0.31 0.38 0.69 3.28
25 Evander Kane 19 ATL C 2010-11 19 73 24 43 15 4 234 8.1 1304 0.26 0.33 0.59 3.21
26 Mitch Marner 19 TOR C 2016-17 19 77 42 61 15 4 176 10.8 1294 0.25 0.55 0.79 2.29
27 Ryan Nugent-Hopkins 18 EDM C 2011-12 18 62 34 52 15 3 134 13.4 1092 0.29 0.55 0.84 2.16
28 Sam Gagner 16 EDM C 2008-09 19 76 25 41 10 6 156 10.3 1274 0.21 0.33 0.54 2.05
29 Nikolaj Ehlers 15 WPG RW 2015-16 19 72 23 38 11 4 167 9.0 1159 0.21 0.32 0.53 2.32
30 Aaron Ekblad 15 FLA D 2015-16 19 78 21 36 12 3 182 8.2 1691 0.19 0.27 0.46 2.33
31 Magnus Paajarvi 15 EDM LW 2010-11 19 80 19 34 12 3 180 8.3 1231 0.19 0.24 0.43 2.25
32 David Pastrnak 15 BOS RW 2015-16 19 51 11 26 15 0 108 13.9 711 0.29 0.22 0.51 2.12
33 Nathan MacKinnon 14 COL C 2014-15 19 64 24 38 11 3 192 7.3 1091 0.22 0.38 0.59 3.00
34 Aaron Ekblad 12 FLA D 2014-15 18 81 27 39 6 6 170 7.1 1767 0.15 0.33 0.48 2.10
35 Jesse Puljujarvi 12 EDM RW 2017-18 19 65 8 20 10 2 136 8.8 869 0.18 0.12 0.31 2.09
36 Jordan Staal 12 PIT C 2007-08 19 82 16 28 9 3 183 6.6 1498 0.15 0.20 0.34 2.23
37 Phil Kessel 11 BOS RW 2006-07 19 70 18 29 10 1 170 6.5 984 0.16 0.26 0.41 2.43
38 Zach Werenski 11 CBJ D 2016-17 19 78 36 47 7 4 188 5.9 1631 0.14 0.46 0.60 2.41
39 Jakob Chychrun 4 ARI D 2017-18 19 50 10 14 2 2 102 3.9 1013 0.08 0.20 0.28 2.04
Provided by Hockey-Reference.com: View Original Table
Generated 8/28/2018.

This list is almost exclusively populated by household name NHL stars. Stamkos, Laine, Mathews, Crosby. Good company, for sure. And, while it’s sorted by goals, there is quite the discrepancy between Stamkos’ sophomore season, when he scored 51 goals, and Jacob Chychrun’s four goal campaign last season.

All told, there are 33 different players on this list of 39 seasons. The duplicates are Steven Stamkos, Sidney Crosby, Patrick Laine, Jeff Skinner, Nathan Mackinnon, and Aaron Ekblad.

So, what’s the connection? Why is Jesse Puljujarvi on a list with 30 studs, as well as former Oilers flame-outs (at least relative to their counterparts on this list) Sam Gagner, and Magnus Paajarvi.

This list is compiled of players who have averaged over 2 shots-per-game, while playing at least 50 games as a teenager* since the 2005 season.

*Using hockey reference’s age criteria, which stipulates that a player’s age on February 1st of a given season s deemed to be his age for the season.

Puljujarvi even produced shots are a higher rate last season than Pierre-Luc Dubois, the player Columbus passed on Puljujarvi to draft third overall, one pick before the Oilers, 2 years ago.

Eventually, one would assume, the shooting percentage has got to catch up with the shot generation for Puljujarvi. He’s a career 7.3% shooter in 93 NHL games, and his 13 career NHL goals match his career AHL total, an amount in which he amassed in 49 games at that level.

If the big Finn can convert his chances at even an average rate for a forward in 2018-19, we could be looking at a 25-goal breakout season. And that’s without even factoring in an increase in per-game ice time, or an uptick in quality of teammates that would surely accompany Puljujarvi’s transcendence toward the top six forward spots on the Oilers’ roster.

Will Puljujarvi’s finishing talent finally catch up to his shot generation this year? Has it just been a matter of bad luck so far, or is beating a goalie clean something that Puljujarvi hasn’t developed in his game yet? Only time will tell for sure, but I wouldn’t bet against a player of Puljujarvi’s talent, a player who would have been eligible the the world junior tournament last season, but instead finished seventh on an NHL team in goals scored. A player who, despite having 142 professional games played in North America under his belt, hasn’t played one after turning 20 yet.

The Oilers will need some unproven wingers to step up this season, for the team to have any chance at enjoying enough secondary scoring to have a chance at a postseason berth. Jesse Puljujarvi is one of the team’s best bets to take that step forward. He’s 20 years old, he loves pizza, he’s got a big goofy grin, a comically long tongue, and an even longer skating stride. He’s exactly what this team needs.