Oilers send Puljujarvi to AHL, waive Gustavsson

[Jouko-Pouko]

Yup, McDavid is the driving force behind a large chunk of Edmonton's success. No disagreeing there. I do suspect that as good as he was, if Chiarelli had not improved the defense, changed the complexion of the team with players like Maroon/Lucic/Kassian, and had excellent goaltending from Talbot, that we'd be looking at a team nowhere near as good either. However, there is no way to test that theory without having access to alternate Universes

All I can know for sure is that Chiarelli has entered the scene, the team has turned around dramatically in a short time period since then, and the team is winning a lot more. That also coincides with McDavid joining the team as well though, so unfortunately there is no reasonable way to tell what might have happened had all other things been equal other than McDavid. We have hints of it from last season when the Oilers were a losing team even with McDavid in the lineup, but that's with a rookie player, with an injury, and in a small sample size. It's not really useful as a measure.

Now I see what the problem is. Your comparing the current GM to the previous GM. MacTavish had no business running an NHL club, so pretty much anyone would look like an upgrade over him. OK, maybe the owners had their fingers in there as well. But yes, Edmonton is definitely moving in the right direction after years of horrible mismanagement. Compared to that, wasting one RFA year from Pulju is pretty much nothing. But you shouldn't just compare the current GM to the previous one, it's important to compare his work against other active GMs in the league. That's the only way of knowing if the GM is doing a good job or not.

[doulos]

Now I see what the problem is. Your comparing the current GM to the previous GM. MacTavish had no business running an NHL club, so pretty much anyone would look like an upgrade over him. OK, maybe the owners had their fingers in there as well. But yes, Edmonton is definitely moving in the right direction after years of horrible mismanagement. Compared to that, wasting one RFA year from Pulju is pretty much nothing. But you shouldn't just compare the current GM to the previous one, it's important to compare his work against other active GMs in the league. That's the only way of knowing if the GM is doing a good job or not.

Compared to the other GMs in the league Chiarelli is doing quite well. The Oilers are in a playoff spot as of today and playing better than they have in a decade. Works just fine for me.

[vandalay]

Oh man, I can't believe some of the stuff posted here. Pulju being ruined? Starting the RFA/UFA clock ticking as though it it is some kind of massive mistake? Oh my.

[lobo1969]

Oh man, I can't believe some of the stuff posted here. Pulju being ruined? Starting the RFA/UFA clock ticking as though it it is some kind of massive mistake? Oh my.

When a topic is Oiler centric, things tend to go nuclear more often than not

[VintageVibe]

2 assists in 2 games so far in Bakersfield.

I'd wager we'll see Rantanen type progression with Puujlarvi. He is going to be a good one and they can afford to wait before they bring him back in full-time.

[beyondthewall19]

Glad the post has been truncated. What parity in this league we are all experiencing, much to the chagrin of some! no, I'm kidding. Let's talk about something else now. Gustavsson! What a bum. I actually thought he got left out to dry on more than a few occassions, but ultimately lost it himself. Too bad! He won't be back, methinks.

Pulju will be fiiiine. They just wish they pulled Tkachuk now. I mean, who wouldn't?!

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Glad the post has been truncated. What parity in this league we are all experiencing, much to the chagrin of some! no, I'm kidding. Let's talk about something else now. Gustavsson! What a bum. I actually thought he got left out to dry on more than a few occassions, but ultimately lost it himself. Too bad! He won't be back, methinks.

Pulju will be fiiiine. They just wish they pulled Tkachuk now. I mean, who wouldn't?!

[Jouko-Pouko]

This Edmonton Journal blog has been popular in Finnish newspapers this week, so I figured I'd add it here as well: http://edmontonjournal.com/sports/ho...sse-puljujarvi

For those of you worried that the Edmonton Oilers had already mishandled the development of Jesse Puljujarvi, then this will sound like further evidence of that.

The Oilers, within the span of barely a week, sent both Jesse Puljujarvi and Anton Lander to Bakersfield of the AHL. I, for one, saw that confluence of events as a good thing for the organization?s long-term success. Anton Lander is an elite AHL pivot, a really smart hockey player. So the idea of having the organization?s runaway #1 prospect in Puljujarvi on Lander?s flank piling up quality AHL minutes gave me great peace of mind. With Jujhar Khaira up with the parent club right now, Lander is the one and only option I was comfortable with in this situation, in the minors.

Then the Bakersfield Condors hit the ice for practice today, and what did I see? Anton Lander, centering Ryan Hamilton and Taylor Beck. Jesse Puljujarvi is, instead, on the flank with one Josh Currie.

Honestly? I very nearly fell out of my chair. What in the actual hell?

With all due respect to Currie, he is by far and away the inferior center of the two. Currie wasn?t even close to being a point-a-game guy in the ECHL over four seasons, and has posted boxcars of 29-7-4-11 so far this season with the Condors. The chances of him ever becoming an NHL-level player are somewhere between slim and non. Oh, yeah, and he is a right-handed shot.

Lander, on the other hand, has 213 NHL games under his belt. He boasts an excellent two-way game, and has absolutely lit up the AHL so far this season (13-10-11-21!). Lander, Hamilton and Beck were a trio before. The excellent Condors reporter Ryan Holt says the line was ?unstoppable? in December, when together. Lander shoots left.

It is very likely that these line combinations will serve Condors head coach Gerry Fleming well. The Condors have 31 points in 30 games, currently 7th out of eight teams in the AHL?s Pacific Division. They need to get on a bit of a roll here, in order to make the playoffs. And to be clear?Gerry Fleming is an AHL coach, I?m not and never will be.

However?

There is one thing that I care about more than the Condors winning or making the post season (which, don?t get me wrong, would be beneficial to the entire organization), and that is development. And there is one, single reason why Jesse Puljujarvi is playing hockey in California right now?to develop. So why, on God?s green earth, would you stick the most valuable prospect in your entire system, a #4 over-all NHL draft pick (and a right shot, to boot) with a career ECHL lefty-shooting center?

The Oilers farm team has a sketchy and well-deserved rap for over-catering to veteran minor league players, when it comes to ice time and opportunity on the farm. It can be easily argued that those guys get TOI ahead of the young players with upside who have an actual shot at playing for the Edmonton Oilers for the next five to ten years. Is this more of that?

Look?this could be much ado about nothing. Maybe half way through the 2nd period of tonight?s game, Fleming will flip the lines, and all will be right with the world. But color me concerned. If Peter Chiarelli got heat from the fan base for how the Puljujarvi experiment went in Edmonton, just wait.

Because if Puljujarvi?s AHL development gets screwed up, you ain?t see nothing yet.

[doulos]

By all reports Puljujarvi is looking great with the Condors so that article seems much ado about nothing.

[Axeman33]

Another Oilers victory last night! Woot!

[donions]

By all reports Puljujarvi is looking great with the Condors so that article seems much ado about nothing.

Ill give it a little attention since that was a big problem for the Oil in the Tambellinni Era, that and many many others. But they always played there AHL veterans over the prospects it seemed. Even created some tension with Todd Nelson and Bob stauffer 1 time when they had a heated debate about that very topic.
Hopefully its a thing of the past, the minutes Griffin Reinhart are getting despite his average play tells me there priority is definitely development.

The Condors simply dont have any other options to play him with. And the article got it wrong about Currie hes a right-shot not a lefty, tho I dont see why they were harping on that point. Currie is still better then half the guys in the Finnish League Pulju played with last year. Its not ideal but you work with what you got.

[Jouko-Pouko]

Ill give it a little attention since that was a big problem for the Oil in the Tambellinni Era, that and many many others. But they always played there AHL veterans over the prospects it seemed. Even created some tension with Todd Nelson and Bob stauffer 1 time when they had a heated debate about that very topic.
Hopefully its a thing of the past, the minutes Griffin Reinhart are getting despite his average play tells me there priority is definitely development.

The Condors simply dont have any other options to play him with. And the article got it wrong about Currie hes a right-shot not a lefty, tho I dont see why they were harping on that point. Currie is still better then half the guys in the Finnish League Pulju played with last year. Its not ideal but you work with what you got.

The article actually said once that he's a left-handed shot and once that he's a right-handed shot. I think the point was that it's better for a right-handed shot winger to have a left-handed shot center. I don't know if that has ever been proven or even looked at closely.

I disagree about your evaluation of Finnish league players. Since Currie is mostly an ECHL level player, most players from the Finnish league are better than him.

I think the article highlights two issues for the Oilers; they may be focusing too much on veteran players who have no NHL future, and they don't really have any depth in the AHL. Hopefully they don't run into injury problems because there's not much help available in the minors for them.

[Axeman33]

The article actually said once that he's a left-handed shot and once that he's a right-handed shot. I think the point was that it's better for a right-handed shot winger to have a left-handed shot center. I don't know if that has ever been proven or even looked at closely.

I disagree about your evaluation of Finnish league players. Since Currie is mostly an ECHL level player, most players from the Finnish league are better than him.

I think the article highlights two issues for the Oilers; they may be focusing too much on veteran players who have no NHL future, and they don't really have any depth in the AHL. Hopefully they don't run into injury problems because there's not much help available in the minors for them.

The Oilers havent had AHL depth for years now simply because their top picks got rushed to the league and they didn't draft well past the 1st round.

[donions]

I disagree about your evaluation of Finnish league players. Since Currie is mostly an ECHL level player, most players from the Finnish league are better than him.

He's played the last 2 seasons in the AHL. That makes him an AHL player, the 2nd best league in the world imo. I see your point haha, but hes not a complete no-skill plug, had 100pts in junior, worked his way thru the pro ranks. The Condors have a Finnish league player, Jere sallinen, he has 3pts all year. Is that an entirely fair point by me considering his role? Not really, but im using it anyways!

[JagrBomb]

Compared to the other GMs in the league Chiarelli is doing quite well. The Oilers are in a playoff spot as of today and playing better than they have in a decade. Works just fine for me.

I'm actually curious what a pro-Chiarelli fan seems to think his good moves are. I think he joined the summer of the McDavid draft, so lets use that as a basis. Ignoring the two 1st round picks (McDavid/Puljujarvi) that anyone could have made, what do you think makes him a good GM? Please do not use this year's standings as an example because it's clear we won't agree that McDavid is by far the biggest reason.

Off the top of my head, I liked the Maroon trade. I think the Talbot move was him as well so that makes two.

On the flip side, here are the moves I don't like:

1 - Reinhart trade. It was bad then and it looks terrible now. I think it came down to Reinhart for Barzal + Beauvillier or something like that. Reinhart doesn't even look like he'll be a bottom pairing D at this point. Classic case of panicking and making a move for the sake of making one.

2 - Hall/Larsson trade. Now to be fair this is a deal he had to make. It's still a bad deal but I applaud him for having the balls to do it.

3 - Lucic signing. Sure he adds size but the $$$ and more importantly term is awful. This seems like one of those signings where Chiarelli was just focused on making the team better now without worrying about the consequences later when he might not even be there. I think he would have been much better saving that cap space and overpaying for a top 4D if that's what it took.

4 - Puljujarvi. Zero reason why he couldn't have been sent down before he burned the RFA year. Not going to go more into this as this thread is a shitshow already. Oilers still haven't shown they can develop young talent. I still think Puljujarvi could be better than Laine but not if he stays with the Oilers.

5 - Schultz trade. Can't remember if this was Chiarelli but he's doing pretty well in Pittsburgh. Another case of giving up on a young player and not developing him properly.

There could be more but I'm too lazy to try and find all his moves. From this list the bad far outweighs the good. So please feel free to correct me if I'm missing any good moves he's made.

[doulos]

I will use the standings since that is a GM's #1 most important metric and he's killing it this season. Oiler fans know all too well that you can't just take good talent and surround it with garbage and have a good team. That's how they ended up with a decade of the worst hockey in existence.

However, in addition to him performing the actual most important part of his job very well (that of making the team better), I also like:

- Cam Talbot signing
- Maroon trade
- Mark Letestu signing
- Andrej Sekera signing
- Kassian trade
- Benning and Caggiula pickups
- Russell signing

That's a massive part of the current roster. And they are winning a lot. I love it.