Jesse Puljujärvi Placed On IR With Lower Body Injury

Jesse Puljujärvi will be out for the next 3-4 weeks with a lower body injury.

Puljujärvi sustained the injury on the night he scored his twelfth goal of the season, a goal that put the Oilers up 3-2. Let’s watch that goal, I like goals.

Tasty feed from McDavid. Lovely.

Puljujärvi’s time was limited after this goal, didn’t return for the third period. Shortly after his goal, a tangle with Hampus Lindholm ensued in the corner causing Puljujärvi to hit the deck. He finished with just over eight minutes of ice time.

With Puljujärvi expected to be out up to a month, the Oilers will need to find a replacement in the lineup. I think the easy solution would be to to bump Yamamoto up a line and promote Ryan McLeod to the second line. I like Derek Ryan on the third line since Jay Woodcroft came along, so I’d be tempted to leave that be.

I’d really like to see Cooper Marody come up, even if that means putting someone in the top six that normally wouldn’t be there. Marody has 35 points in 32 games with Bakersfield this year (14-21-35), and he picked up an assist in just over six minutes of ice time with Edmonton this year. The Oilers could opt to pull up Seth Griffith, who’s leading the Condors in scoring with 46 points (17-29-46). Colton Sceviour wouldn’t be bad in a pinch either.

Whomever gets the call, Edmonton’s going to need to get a bit creative over the next month. Puljujärvi created lots of space for McDavid on the top line, and Woodcroft will need to find a fit for the McDavid line before tomorrow’s game in Winnipeg.