Jesse Puljujarvi finally traded within 10 days? The Canadiens have done their homework

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Jeff Drouin
October 2, 2022 (12:13)

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Since being selected fourth overall in the 2016 NHL Draft, Edmonton Oilers forward Jesse Puljujarvi has become something of a whipping boy for the team's fans.

It has to be said that he has yet to get the much-needed breakout from his career and as Mark Suciu of Habsolumentfan.com reports, some experts wouldn't be surprised if Oilers GM Ken Holland trades the Finnish forward before the season starts.

In fact, Kevin Weeks, now an ESPN analyst, had mentioned earlier this summer that Puljujarvi's days in Edmonton were numbered and that some teams had shown interest in him.

But now another tipster, TSN's Frank Seravalli, has said that he doesn't think the door is closed on a possible trade involving the Oilers forward between now and the start of the season.

That said, another reason the Oilers would trade Puljujarvi would be that reporter Mark Spector, who covers the Oilers, mentioned that Puljujarvi would be considered a cancer by his teammates and that the chances of seeing him start the season in Edmonton would be pretty slim.

In fact, there have been rumours in recent days that Ken Holland was interested in Coyotes defenseman Jakob Chychrun and that Puljujarvi's name came up in the discussions. However, the last news, the discussions between the two organizations would be at a standstill, because the Coyotes would be very greedy in their demands.

Last year, Puljujarvi collected 36 points, including 14 goals in 65 games with the Oilers, but he was rather invisible in the playoffs with only two goals and one assist in 16 games. That's not even close to the kind of numbers you'd expect from a player taken fourth overall in an NHL draft, and you wonder if he'll ever get there.

The Habs have done their homework.

Recall that many very credible NHL sources have mentioned that the Montreal Canadiens have done their homework with the Oilers for Puljujarvi.

However, with the surplus of forwards, even if Kent Hughes and Jeff Gorton have indeed "done their homework and made inquiries" about possibly adding Puljujarvi, it would be surprising if this were to materialize. Would you agree?

The CH is probably among the 8 or 9 teams that would be interested in acquiring Puljujarvi, but they are not in the top 4 or 5, in our opinion at least.

To be continued!