Former Oilers forward Puljujarvi signs PTO with another NHL team

Former Edmonton Oilers first-round pick Jesse Puljujarvi is back in the NHL.

It was announced on Sunday morning that the Finnish forward signed a PTO with the Pittsburgh Penguins after missing the first few months of the NHL season recovering from offseason hip surgery.

Forward Jesse Puljujarvi has joined the Penguins as a free agent tryout.

Defenseman P.O Joseph has been recalled from his conditioning loan to the @WBSPenguins. pic.twitter.com/yXN3n2eGSl

— Pittsburgh Penguins (@penguins) December 10, 2023

Puljujarvi has been one of the NHL’s more contentious players since he was drafted fourth overall by the Oilers in 2016. He entered the league with high expectations but couldn’t quite find his footing in Edmonton, bouncing between the NHL and AHL.

He took a year off in 2019-20 to play in Finland before returning to the Oilers the following season. Puljujarvi seemed to find a niche role as a secondary scorer for Edmonton, scoring 14 goals and 36 points in 2021-2022, but that production fell off a cliff last season.

With the Oilers and Puljujarvi frustrated with the lack of results, the two sides finally parted ways at last season’s trade deadline, shipping the 25-year-old to the Carolina Hurricanes. Unfortunately, the struggles continued in Raleigh, as Puljujarvi only produced two assists in 17 games and was a regular healthy scratch in the playoffs.

As a result of these continued struggles, the Hurricanes opted not to qualify Puljujarvi, making him a UFA.

Though he was often a beacon for stellar underlying analytics on both the defensive and offensive sides of the puck, what has alluded the Finn so far in his NHL career is his ability to put up points. He often played alongside Connor McDavid in Edmonton, and while he helped that line be dominant, he would struggle to score goals or finish on plays.

Heading to Pittsburgh, it will be interesting to see if a now-healthy Puljujarvi can finally put the pieces together to become the impact forward he was initially expected to be when he was drafted.

However, he still has to earn a contract, so nothing is guaranteed for Puljujarvi quite yet.

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