EDMONTON — Everyone loves a good comeback story.
The Edmonton Oilers have hosted a few comebacks in their recent history.
Zack Kassian joined the Oilers after issues on and off the ice derailed his standing with the Montreal Canadiens. He rose to the occasion with the Oilers, becoming an important member of the team and a fan favorite.
More recently, Calvin Pickard and Zach Hyman joined the organization and experienced big performance boosts compared to previous years.
Could the Oilers take back a former member of the organization in the hopes of another comeback?
Earlier today, former Oilers forward Jesse Puljujarvi was put on waivers.
The Pittsburgh Penguins took a chance on the 26-year-old forward last season. They signed him to a two-year $800,000 contract after he spent weeks with the organization in a tryout capacity.
After officially signing with the Penguins, he went to the AHL to brush off the rust. In 13 games, he recorded nine points and earned himself a call-up to the NHL club.
Puljujarvi followed that up with four points in 22 games with the Penguins. He averaged 9:11 of ice time during that stint.
This past summer he could work on his game instead of spending all of his time recovering and rehabbing.
This year, he has been a healthy scratch a handful of times, only dressing for 21 games. From his AHL demotion and healthy scratch history, it’s clear that he has fallen out of favor with the team.
Puljujarvi has all the tools to be an effective NHL player. He is a good forechecker, has good puck skills, and has has a big frame that allows him to protect the puck.
His team-friendly contract should raise the eyebrows of 31 general managers and open the door to a waiver claim.
The Oilers should be one of those teams. Puljujarvi had great fancy stats when paired with Connor McDavid in a very small sample size. That warrants at least another look on his wing.
Acquiring Puljujarvi would allow Ryan Nugent-Hopkins to slide down and either strengthen the second line or allow him to center a potential third-scoring line.
Either way, this should be a slam-dunk waiver claim for the Oilers. The worst-case scenario is that they put him on waivers and have someone else claim him.
No harm, no foul.
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