The Edmonton Oilers avoided salary arbitration with forward Jesse Puljujarvi, but it does not guarantee he will remain a member of the team this upcoming season.
The Oilers announced Tuesday, they signed Puljujarvi, 24, to a one-year, $3-million contract extension. He made $1.175-million last season in the second of a two-year deal.
Puljujarvi was a restricted free agent and filed for salary arbitration after scoring 14 goals and collecting 36 points in 65 games for the Oilers this past season. He had a goal and two assists in 16 playoff games as the Oilers made it to the Western Conference Final for the first time since 2006, before being swept by the eventual Stanley Cup Champion Colorado Avalanche.
Puljujarvi was scheduled to have his hearing Friday.
“It’s always good to avoid arbitration and it’s something that we’ve been working on here for a while, and we found a solution,” said Oilers general manger Ken Holland on Tuesday. “It’s a one-year deal, and now I have to go to work on (Kailer) Yamamoto.”
Yamamoto also filed for salary arbitration and his hearing is scheduled for a week from Friday.
Puljujarvi has become a polarising figure in Edmonton since selected fourth overall by the Oilers in the 2016 NHL Entry Draft.
At the time, Oilers management tripped over themselves rushing to the stage at the First Niagara Center in Buffalo to select Puljujarvi after the Columbus Blue Jackets — with their Finnish general manager Jarmo Kekalainen and Finnish head scout Ville Siren — decided to pass on the Finnish forward.
The Oilers believed they had capitalized on a mistake by Columbus, but Puljujarvi has not worked out as well as hoped. The three players selected ahead of him, Auston Matthews, Patrik Laine, and Pierre-Luc Dubois, along with 13 selected after, have more NHL points than Puljujarvi.
A member of the Finland world junior championship team in 2016 and world championship team that same year, Puljujarvi is going into his sixth NHL season. He left the Oilers and returned to Finland following the 2018-2019 NHL season, after failing to gain any traction in the NHL.
When Holland took over as general manager, he persuaded Puljujarvi to return to Edmonton for the 2020-2021 season, where he scored 15 goals and had 25 points in 55 games.
This past season, Puljujarvi got off to a good start, with six goals in his first 11 games, playing alongside Connor McDavid on the top line, but then struggled with three goals in his last 37 games.
Puljujarvi was ineffective in the playoffs and seemed to fall out of favour with head coach Jay Woodcroft.
At the end of the season, Holland said he was not sure if Puljujarvi would be in the plans moving forward, and Tuesday, he still remained non-committal.
“I would say in Jesse’s case, I’m comfortable if he’s back,” Holland said. “We’re at the cap and anything that we do is going to be dollar-in, dollar-out, so I’m still trying to figure out if there is anything out there that is going to make us better. I’m not 100 per cent for sure, but I’m happy to get him signed.”
Holland does not want to give Puljujarvi away, but was not interested in having him to go arbitration and being awarded a contract he would be unable to unload. The Oilers did not have walk-away rights with Puljujarvi and would have to honour the arbitrator’s award.
With suggestions Puljujarvi might be looking for a fresh start as well, both sides agreed on one-year deal, although he will remain a restricted free agent next summer.
“I think the one-year was the best solution,” Holland said. “Jesse got off to a great start then he kind of had a tough finish. I don’t think either side really knows where he’s at, and when you’re in those kinds of situations, it’s easier to do a one-year deal than something with any kind of term.”
Despite his offensive struggles, Puljujarvi remains popular with fans in Edmonton due to his relaxed demeanour and the fact he didn’t get trampled approaching a bison at Elk Island national park and taking a picture in front of it. From that he earned the moniker, ‘The Bison King,’
Some analytics aficionados also turn themselves into pretzels attempting to justify Puljujarvi’s effectiveness with underlying possession numbers.
“What I like about him is that he can play in the top-six, which he has done quite a bit,” Holland said. “But I think he can also play on the third line. The good teams are able to roll three lines for sure.”
NEW ASSISTANT
On Tuesday, the Oilers also announced the hiring of former NHL defenceman Mark Stuart to their coaching staff.
Stuart, 38, will join Glen Gulutzan, Dave Manson, Dustin Schwartz, Jeremy Coupal (video coach) and Noah Segall (video co-ordinator) on the coaching staff under head coach Jay Woodcroft for the upcoming season.
“We want that position to be more of a skill-development position,” Holland said. “He’s played in the National Hockey League, he coached in college at Colorado College.
“This is really the head coach’s hire. I negotiated the deal and signed off on it, but Jay Woodcroft went through the process and was looking for an entry-level coach that can help our team with skill development.”
Email: dvandiest@postmedia.com
On Twitter: @DerekVanDiest
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