Ottawa Senators should kick tyres on Jesse Puljujarvi
The Ottawa Senators enter a crucial rebuilding phase and adding more promising young players should be their top priority.
With the Ottawa Senators looking at building a strong, young team over the next two to three seasons, the organisation should kick tyres on one player desperate to leave their current team.
That player is Jesse Puljujarvi, who is publicly hoping to find a way to leave the Edmonton Oilers this summer.
The young Finnish winger is a restricted free agent, but has not yet signed his qualifying offer from the Oilers and has not agreed to a new extension either.
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Many observers feel that the development of the 2016 Draft’s fourth overall selection has been mismanaged by the Oilers organisation, seeing him fail to produce at the level expected of him.
A fresh start with a new team, particularly one that is looking to develop young players and build a team around promising prospects, could help see the Finnish winger get his career back on track.
The Ottawa Senators should seriously consider making a move for Puljujarvi, weighing up which option would be the best way to acquire him.
The Senators could afford to make an offer sheet for Puljujarvi, paying him in the region of $3.5 million – pushing the Oilers to consider their options due to their tight cap situation.
At the time of writing, the Oilers have just $2.4 million available in cap space and an offer sheet far enough over this threshold could force the team to move on from their wantaway prospect, especially with the team unable to rely on LTIR.
In return for signing Puljujarvi, the Oilers would receive a second-round pick. This wouldn’t hurt the Senators too much considering they own six second-rounders over the next two drafts.
If, however, the Oilers match the deal and decide to offload cap somewhere else on their roster, it would force Puljujarvi to remain with the team.
Which would mean a trade may be the most effective way of landing him without any lingering doubts.
The Oilers recently swapped Milan Lucic‘s cap hit for James Neal‘s and it was the former’s contract that was often attached to proposed trades for Puljujarvi.
With the Sens owning so many draft picks over the next few years, they are in a strong position to put together an offer for Puljujarvi.
The young Finn has just 37 points (17 goals, ten assists) in 139 regular-season appearances, so it is unlikely that the Oilers could demand too much in a trade as a result.
While yes, they could argue that he was a very high draft pick, their poor management of his development over the past three years has driven his value down greatly.
With the Senators, Puljujarvi would have an opportunity to regain his form from his time in Finland and secure himself a top-six role with the team, helping him to put his difficult career start behind him.
Next. Sens should worry about a Chabot offer sheet. dark
What do you think Sens fans? Should the team make a run at landing Puljujarvi? What would you be willing to give up for him? Let us know your thoughts in the comments below!