New Jersey Devils: 5 Edmonton Oilers Players To Target In Taylor Hall Trade

Jesse Puljujärvi

This would obviously be a small piece to a bigger deal. The Edmonton Oilers have a major Jesse Puljujärvi problem. He went back to the Finnish Elite League after asking the Oilers for a trade, a request they did not grant. Holland continues to say he wants Puljujärvi to return to the Oilers, but it seems like no matter what, that relationship has soured.

Puljujärvi has not had a great start to his NHL career. After falling into the Oilers lap at number four overall in the 2016 NHL Draft, he’s had trouble gaining traction in the NHL. He had a career high 20 points two seasons ago, but that plummeted to just nine last season in an injury-riddled year.

Puljujärvi desperately needs a change of scenery, but the Oilers have to understand he has extremely low value. He’s not playing in the NHL right now, he’s making demands about where he wants to play and his NHL production has been poor. The Devils should ask to have him thrown into this deal as a piece.

Then, the Devils have two options with Puljujarvi. They can either use him to recoup some of the draft picks they lost in the Nikita Gusev and P.K. Subban trades, or they could use him in the NHL, and try to revive his career. The only issue with that is head coach John Hynes isn’t going to play a player in the top six because he wants to. He’s going to have to earn all of his opportunities.