Jesse Puljujärvi

Jesse Puljujärvi
Puljujärvi with Finland in 2016
Born (1998-05-07) 7 May 1998 (age 25)
Älvkarleby, Sweden
Height 6 ft 4 in (193 cm)
Weight 201 lb (91 kg; 14 st 5 lb)
Position Right wing
Shoots Right
NHL team
Former teams
Free agent
Oulun Kärpät
Edmonton Oilers
Carolina Hurricanes
National team  Finland
NHL Draft 4th overall, 2016
Edmonton Oilers
Playing career 2014–present

Jesse Puljujärvi (Finnish: [ˈjesːe ˈpuljuˌjærʋi]; born 7 May 1998) is a Swedish-born Finnish professional ice hockey player who is currently an unrestricted free agent. He most recently played for the Carolina Hurricanes of the National Hockey League (NHL). Rated as a top prospect, Puljujärvi was drafted fourth overall by the Edmonton Oilers in the 2016 NHL Entry Draft.

Playing career

Kärpät

Puljujärvi played in the 2011 Quebec International Pee-Wee Hockey Tournament with the Finland Selects youth team.

Puljujärvi began his hockey career and Fin-Jr. league debut in 2013–14 with the Kärpät Jr. hockey team. In the two seasons he participated in, Puljujärvi recorded 23 points in 18 games and 18 points in 11 games.

Puljujärvi made his Liiga debut playing with Kärpät during the 2014–15 Liiga season. Leading up the NHL draft, he was ranked as the number three European skater. He was described as a big, mobile, skilled, all-around winger who can score and pass.

Puljujärvi was sent down mid-season and made his Mestis debut in 2014–15 with Kärpät affiliate Kajaanin Hokki. He finished the season with 13 points in 15 games. During the season, Puljujärvi was considered good enough again, that he was sent to the Kärpät hockey team to continue his career there. Kärpät would be his final team before he would be drafted into the NHL.

In 2015–16, his first full season with Kärpät, Puljujärvi played in 50 Liiga games, scoring 28 points (13 goals and 15 assists), as well as in ten playoff games with four goals and five assists. He also competed in the Champions Hockey League (CHL) with the club, recording 2 assists in 13 games but remained goalless.

Puljujärvi would then leave the team and European hockey altogether, as he would be drafted into the NHL as the fourth overall pick by the Edmonton Oilers.

Edmonton Oilers

Puljujärvi signed a three-year, entry-level contract with the Edmonton Oilers on 13 July 2016. He opted to wear sweater #98 with the team, making him the first NHL player to do so since 1985, when Brian Lawton wore the number in a regular season game. But he later chose to change his number to #13 for the 2020–21 season with the Edmonton Oilers. After making the Oilers opening night roster for the 2016–17 season, he made his NHL debut on opening night with the Oilers in which he scored his first career NHL goal on 12 October 2016.

After just 28 games, Puljujärvi was sent down to the Oilers' American Hockey League (AHL) affiliate, the Bakersfield Condors, for more development time. During his tenure at the AHL, Puljujärvi scored 12 goals and 16 assists in 39 games.

Puljujärvi returned to the Oilers in the 2016–17 NHL season but ultimately bounced between the NHL and AHL squads. On 20 January 2018, Puljujärvi registered a career-high three-point game, recording one goal and two assists against the Vancouver Canucks. This would also mark the first time Puljujärvi received a first star for a game.

He returned to Oulun Kärpät in August 2019, signing an initial one-year contract, though the Edmonton Oilers would hold his NHL rights.

On 7 October 2020, after a year of holding out from the Oilers organization, Puljujärvi was signed to a two-year, $2.35 million contract with the Oilers. He remained with Kärpät on loan until the commencement of the delayed 2020–21 NHL season.

As a restricted free agent following the 2021–22 season, Puljujärvi avoided arbitration with the Oilers after re-signing to a one-year, $3 million contract extension on 26 July 2022.

Carolina Hurricanes

Approaching the NHL trade deadline, Puljujärvi was dealt by the Oilers to the Carolina Hurricanes in exchange for Patrik Puistola on 28 February 2023.

International play

Medal record
Representing  Finland
ice hockey
World Junior Championship
Gold medal – first place 2016 Finland
IIHF World U18 Championship
Silver medal – second place 2015 Switzerland
Gold medal – first place 2016 United States

Puljujärvi helped team Finland win silver medal at the 2015 IIHF World U18 Championships in Switzerland.

Puljujärvi played for Finland at the 2016 World Junior Championships, where they won gold on 5 January 2016. In seven games, he scored 5 goals and 12 assists for 17 points, placing him second in all-time points for an under-18 player behind only Jaromír Jágr, and tying Wayne Gretzky and Eric Lindros. He was subsequently declared Best Forward and Most Valuable Player of the tournament. Later that year, Puljujärvi was also a part of the national team at the 2016 World U18 Championships, winning another gold medal, becoming the first and so far the only European player to win an U20 and U18 gold medal in the same year.

Personal life

Puljujärvi was born to Finnish parents in Sweden and lived there until he was four, though culturally, he identifies as Finnish. He holds both Finnish and Swedish citizenship. In his free time, he likes playing ice hockey with neighbourhood kids. During his time in Edmonton he got nicknamed The Bison King, after posting an image on social media of himself giving a thumbs up, while a bison is behind him.

Career statistics

Regular season and playoffs

Regular season Playoffs
Season Team League GP G A Pts PIM GP G A Pts PIM
2013–14 Oulun Kärpät Jr. A 18 12 11 23 4 12 7 0 7 2
2014–15 Oulun Kärpät Jr. A 11 12 6 18 10 5 2 1 3 4
2014–15 Oulun Kärpät Liiga 21 4 7 11 10
2014–15 Hokki Mestis 15 8 5 13 8 3 0 1 1 0
2015–16 Oulun Kärpät Liiga 50 13 15 28 22 9 3 4 7 2
2016–17 Edmonton Oilers NHL 28 1 7 8 10
2016–17 Bakersfield Condors AHL 39 12 16 28 10
2017–18 Bakersfield Condors AHL 10 1 4 5 4
2017–18 Edmonton Oilers NHL 65 12 8 20 14
2018–19 Edmonton Oilers NHL 46 4 5 9 16
2018–19 Bakersfield Condors AHL 4 2 2 4 7
2019–20 Oulun Kärpät Liiga 56 24 29 53 52
2020–21 Oulun Kärpät Liiga 16 7 5 12 43
2020–21 Edmonton Oilers NHL 55 15 10 25 16 4 1 1 2 0
2021–22 Edmonton Oilers NHL 65 14 22 36 20 16 2 1 3 2
2022–23 Edmonton Oilers NHL 58 5 9 14 30
2022–23 Carolina Hurricanes NHL 17 0 2 2 2 7 0 1 1 0
Liiga totals 143 48 56 104 127 10 4 5 9 2
NHL totals 334 51 63 114 108 27 3 3 6 2

International

Year Team Event Result GP G A Pts PIM
2014 Finland IH18 5th 4 3 2 5 4
2015 Finland U18 2nd place, silver medalist(s) 7 2 5 7 4
2015 Finland WJC 7th 5 0 0 0 0
2016 Finland U18 1st place, gold medalist(s) 4 5 2 7 2
2016 Finland WJC 1st place, gold medalist(s) 7 5 12 17 0
2017 Finland WC 4th 8 0 0 0 4
Junior totals 27 15 21 36 10

Awards and honors

Award Year
International
IIHF World U18 Championship silver medal 2015
IIHF World U18 Championship gold medal 2016
IIHF World U18 Championship All-Star Team 2016
IIHF World Junior Championship gold medal 2016
IIHF World Junior Championship All-Star Team 2016
IIHF World Junior Championship Best Forward 2016
IIHF World Junior Championship Most Valuable Player 2016

This page was last updated at 2023-10-28 04:05 UTC. Update now. View original page.

All our content comes from Wikipedia and under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike License.


Top

If mathematical, chemical, physical and other formulas are not displayed correctly on this page, please useFirefox or Safari