Right wingers Jesse Puljujarvi and Kailer Yamamoto made the Edmonton Oilers out of training camp. Nothing was handed to them — they both get full marks for making the team.
Puljujarvi had four goals in five pre-season games. Yamamoto was third in Oilers scoring with 6-3-9 in six games. Both were plus players.
The problem? The work can’t end there.
By the time October is over, the level at which a player needs to perform at to continue being a productive member of a National Hockey League lineup ramps upward. Significantly upward, to a level that neither player was able to attain.
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“They’re (both) 20 years old,” began Oilers head coach Todd McLellan on Sunday, the day after both players were assigned to the American Hockey League’s Bakersfield Condors. “Both of them earned an opportunity, based on their training camp, to start with this club. But we all know, the league gets a little tougher as Games 5, to 10, to 15 evolve. We saw that they were not as effective as they were in the pre-season.
“There’s a lot more to the game than just point producing, as an individual. You have to have a positive affect on the game.”
Puljujarvi had one goal, his lone point in 11 NHL games this season. Yamamoto had 1-1-2 in a dozen games. Both were minus players, and neither took much of a bite of most games they played in.
So they’ll go down a level to the AHL, and feel what it’s like to be an important player again. Hopefully.
“Broadly speaking, I’d like them to get more touches,” Oilers GM Peter Chiarelli told the media on Sunday morning. “With Jesse, it’s about getting his confidence back.”
Puljujarvi showed a couple of pre-season flashes that we’d not seen before, using his speed and strength on smaller defencemen, and hanging on to the puck long enough for plays to evolve around him.
“Unfortunately, it did not translate,” admitted Chiarelli. “But there was some maturity to his game too, and we just have to build that back up. It’s easier to do that down there, with more minutes and a little more latitude, margin for error.”
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Chiarelli liked Yamomoto’s responsible defensive play, the way he supported teammates when they had the puck, his work on the penalty kill and a lot of other little things, like puck retrieval and the willingness to go to the hard areas despite his diminutive size (5-foot-8, 153 lbs.).
But all of that did not translate to goals. As a future top-6 forward, that is the next step for the little Spokane native.
“For him, I told him it’s about finishing,” the GM said. “Go down there and finish your opportunities. Because he did have a lot of opportunities up here, and I didn’t want his confidence to suffer too.”
With a lineup that is light at right wing, Chiarelli admitted Sunday that he was hoping one of the two youngsters would “bubble up” and fill a position at the NHL level. But the time came for Chiarelli to admit that it just wasn’t heading in that direction, as he walks the line between developing young players and winning right now in Edmonton.
“It is a balance. A day to day thing,” he said. “All parties want to see young players succeed and get integrated into a lineup. But there is a need to win a need to succeed here.
“It’s about getting confidence back,” said Chiarelli, who sends the pair down with a full week of practice ahead before Bakersfield begins a stretch of five games in nine nights, beginning Friday. The Condors have won four in a row and are 7-4 under new head coach Jay Woodcroft, an Oilers assistant the past three seasons.
“They’ve got a good thing going down there,” Chiarelli said. “They’ll play top minutes and have a number of touches that we want. It’s about going down there with the right attitude and getting your confidence back.”
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