Jesse Puljujarvi Signs Two-Year Contract With Penguins
The Pittsburgh Penguins have signed forward Jesse Puljujarvi to a two-year contract worth $1.6 million, the team announced Sunday afternoon.
Puljujarvi, who underwent double hip surgery last off-season, signed a professional try-out with the Penguins on December 10th after being cleared for contact. He didn’t receive a qualifying offer from the Carolina Hurricanes following last season, becoming an unrestricted free agent.
The 25-year-old’s deal runs through 2024-25 and carries a cap hit of $800,000 per season. It includes a base salary of $775,000 this season, which will likely be prorated, and $825,000 for Year 2.
After joining Pittsburgh’s organization in December, Puljujarvi played 13 AHL games with the Wilkes-Barre/Scranton Penguins, notching four goals and nine points during his brief stint.
Parlaying that performance into an NHL contract, the 6-foot-4 winger practiced with the Penguins during their first day back from the All-Star break, which coincided with their bye week. He’s considered a game-time decision for Tuesday’s contest versus the Winnipeg Jets.
“It’s been now almost eight months after surgery. I’ve been working really hard on getting this opportunity,” Puljujarvi said following Sunday’s practice. “This has been the big call to get some games again up in the best league in the world. Hopefully, I can play soon here.”
“The body has been feeling good, 13 games back in Wilkes was really fun. Get good meetings, get that feeling again how to play hockey… it was really fun.”
Puljujarvi certainly paid his dues to reach this moment, both literally and figuratively.
The club could only cover his expenses for 10 days following his arrival on a PTO. After that, he had to foot the bill himself for continuing to work on his conditioning with the organization’s staff prior to debuting with their AHL affiliate.
While the results were impressive, especially for someone coming off such a significant procedure, Puljujarvi was more focused on feeling comfortable on the ice again after enduring an extensive road to recovery.
“I tried to find what works the best for me now, and been finding some, and yeah. There’s been some good games,” Puljujarvi said. “I’ve been feeling good. There’s for the most part, no pain. So, I’m really happy about that, that I can keep playing pain-free.”
Born in Sweden while raised in Finland, he was selected fourth overall by the Edmonton Oilers in 2016, appearing in 317 games over six seasons with the franchise. He debuted as an NHLer a few months later during the 2016-17 campaign.
The former highly-touted prospect scored 51 goals and 112 points while averaging 13:40 per night during his Oilers career. But with the team desperate for cap space, he was traded to the Hurricanes for winger Patrik Puistola at last February’s trade deadline.
Puljujarvi logged 58 games with Edmonton last season, potting five goals and 14 points. But his production declined significantly after moving to Carolina, racking up just a pair of assists in 17 contests.
The traditional numbers, however, don’t tell the whole story. Finishing isn’t his strong suit, but the Penguins brass are looking for him to contribute in other ways – like on the forecheck, driving hard to the net and being a factor in transition defence.
“I think I can help this team when I’m skating well, make good plays and be myself. Try to be energized every day, be smiling and be happy,” Puljujarvi said. “I’m happy I’m here to be part of this team and to help out.”
As part of Sunday’s practice, Puljujarvi skated alongside new teammates Rickard Rakell and Lars Eller, suggesting he’ll likely join Pittsburgh’s third line once he’s ready to return to NHL action.
The Penguins may need every bit of help they can acquire to crawl out of their first-half hole, which places them seven points back of the final wild-card seed in the East. But, with a 58.6% chance to make the playoffs, per MoneyPuck, hope isn’t lost just yet.
If those odds continue to dwindle, though, GM Kyle Dubas may have to consider selling at the March 8th trade deadline with a handful of pending UFAs on his roster, most notably Jake Guentzel.
-Thomas Hall
Twitter: @Hall_Thomas_
Photo: Oonanur. This file is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution-Share Alike 4.0 International license.