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Jesse Puljujarvi

Penguins Place Evgeni Malkin On Injured Reserve

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The Penguins placed Evgeni Malkin on injured reserve Monday, per a team announcement. He left Saturday’s game against the Kraken in the first period because of a lower-body injury. The team recalled winger Jesse Puljujärvi from AHL Wilkes-Barre/Scranton to fill his roster spot.

Malkin appeared to injure his left leg in a collision with Kraken center Chandler Stephenson at center ice. He took one shift after the play but departed for the locker room shortly thereafter. The team has not issued a timeline for his return.

Any long-term absence from a top-six forward is likely a season-ender for the Pens, who have gone 3-6-3 since the New Year and sit last in the Metropolitan Division with 48 points. Their above-average offense was the only thing keeping the club afloat – only the Sharks have allowed more goals than Pittsburgh’s 185 – and Malkin is still an extremely important contributor with 25 assists and 34 points through 47 games.

The all-time great missed four games with an unrelated upper-body injury earlier this month. Pittsburgh went 1-2-1 during that stretch and averaged 2.5 goals per game.

Malkin had been skating in his usual second-line center spot, most recently flanked by Michael Bunting and Philip Tomasino. Puljujärvi won’t slide in there as a direct replacement but is expected to see third-line duties while Cody Glass slides up to center Bunting and Tomasino, PuckPedia projects. While Pittsburgh has 14 forwards on the active roster without Malkin, Blake Lizotte and Bryan Rust are day-to-day with an illness and a lower-body injury, respectively, and won’t play Monday against the Sharks.

Puljujärvi, 26, comes back up after being reassigned to WBS nearly two weeks to the day. Prior to his clearing waivers and subsequent demotion, the 2016 fourth-overall pick had three goals and six assists for nine points in 25 games. He barely played in December, at one point going a month between games while sitting in the press box.

The big-bodied Finn logged a goal and two assists with a minus-two rating in a trio of appearances for the Baby Pens this month. He’s among Pittsburgh’s fastest skaters with a top speed of 22.66 mph this season, per NHL EDGE.

Penguins Activate Evgeni Malkin, Reassign Jesse Puljujarvi

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The Pittsburgh Penguins have activated star forward Evgeni Malkin off of injured reserve. Malkin missed the Penguins’ last four games with an upper-body injury. He was named a game-time decision for the team’s Tuesday bout against Seattle, and his activation seems to be a good indication that he’ll play. Malkin was placed on injured reserve on Sunday, retroactive to his last appearance in the lineup on January 5th. To make room for the move, the squad has also assigned winger Jesse Puljujärvi to the minor leagues. Puljujarvi successfully cleared waivers on December 30th, and will now carry waiver exemption status through the month of January.

The Penguins will relish in Malkin’s return to the lineup. They’ve gone 1-3-0 in the four games he’s missed, getting confidently outscored 17-to-10. Malkin was on a hot streak leading up to his injury, with seven points in his last nine games. Despite that, the future Hall-of-Famer has been tame on the year as a whole, so far sat with eight goals and 32 points in 41 games this season. That puts him on pace for 64 points in 82 games, which would mark a career-low in seasons where Malkin played more than 50 games. He even surpassed that mark last season, when he scored 27 goals and 67 points while continuing his iron-man streak through its second consecutive season. Malkin’s role has been unwavering despite the slight dip in scoring. He’s averaged 18:35 in ice time this year, the exact same average that he posted in each of the last two seasons. Malkin sits just 14 games shy of his 1,200th NHL game. When he hits it, Malkin will join partner-in-crime Sidney Crosby as the only two to reach that mark with Pittsburgh. If he stays healthy, he’ll hit the milestone in Philadelphia on February 8th.

Meanwhile, Puljujarvi will head back to the minors after playing in his first five games since early December in Malkin’s absence. The former top draft pick only managed one point – an assist – in the matchups, while averaging nearly 12 minutes of ice time each game. He now has just nine points in 25 games this season – surpassing the four points he managed in 22 games last year but still far from the mark Pittsburgh would hope for. This assignment will likely set Puljujarvi up to play in his first AHL games of the season. He appeared in 13 games and scored nine points with the Wilkes-Barre/Scranton Penguins last year. They were Puljujarvi’s first minor league appearances since the 2018-19 season, when he was assigned to the minors for four games and scored at point-per-game pace. While this move is fairly inconsequential, given Puljujarvi’s waiving in December, it could be the start of an extended minor-league assignment – bringing a tough end to Puljujarvi’s chase for a role with the Penguins.

Metro Notes: Jones, Fehervary, Ersson, Puljujarvi

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New York Rangers defenseman Zac Jones voiced his frustration when discussing his recent stretch of healthy scratches amid the Rangers losing skid (as per Sean O’Leary of The Score). Jones, who will sit for the fifth time in six games tomorrow, said that he feels as though he is rotting away. The 24-year-old was a regular for the Rangers prior to the team bringing in Will Borgen and Urho Vaakanainen.

Jones added that it is tough for him to improve when he isn’t playing, and he feels as though he has done some good things, but his playing time isn’t reflecting that. In 26 games this season, Jones has posted a goal and seven assists while averaging 16:42 of ice time per game. Jones has been with New York since the team took him in the third round of the 2019 NHL Entry Draft. He has played in 95 games over the past five seasons, posting four goals and 21 assists.

In other Metropolitan Division notes:

  • Washington Capitals defenseman Martin Fehervary did not skate today during the team’s optional skate and is officially listed as day-to-day after taking a stick to the face from teammate Tom Wilson in yesterday’s win over Boston (as per Tarik El-Bashir of the Monumental Sports Network). He will be reevaluated tomorrow morning before the team takes on the Minnesota Wild in the evening. Fehervary has played every game this season after having injuries limit him to just 66 games last year. The 25-year-old is averaging the third most minutes of any Capitals skaters and has become a big piece of their defense core.
  • The Philadelphia Flyers have announced that goaltender Samuel Ersson is day-to-day with a lower-body injury. The netminder left last night’s game after two periods with an undisclosed injury and did not return. The Flyers have said it is likely a short-term injury and he will be evaluated daily. The 25-year-old missed time earlier this season with a groin issue, meaning that he could have reaggravated that injury yesterday. Ersson is 9-6-2 on the season with an .884 save percentage and a 3.02 goals-against average.
  • Matt Vensel of The Pittsburgh Post-Gazette writes that Pittsburgh Penguins forward Jesse Puljujarvi hinted that he may have asked the Penguins for a trade prior to him being put on waivers earlier in the week. The former fourth-overall pick cleared waivers and remains with the Penguins, but he has been a healthy scratch in ten straight games. Puljujarvi had a long road back to good health, and it’s hard to fault him for wanting to play. He was at Penguins practice again today, and once again he was the odd man out during their line rushes. The 26-year-old has three goals and five assists in 21 games this season but hasn’t been able to get into the lineup after Penguins head coach Mike Sullivan said that he needed to play better defense and have more attention to detail.

Penguins’ Jesse Puljujärvi Clears Waivers

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Dec. 31: Sportsnet’s Elliotte Friedman shared that Puljujärvi has been successfully passed through waivers. The Penguins organization can now send him to the AHL unencumbered.

Dec. 30: The Penguins have placed winger Jesse Puljujärvi on waivers for the purposes of assignment to AHL Wilkes-Barre/Scranton, per Elliotte Friedman of Sportsnet.

Puljujärvi, the fourth overall pick of the 2016 draft by the Oilers, lands on waivers for the first time in his eight-year NHL career. The 26-year-old has played just once since Nov. 23, last suiting up on Dec. 7 against the Maple Leafs and serving as a healthy scratch in 14 of the Pens’ last 15 games.

That run of scratches has less to do with Puljujärvi’s performance than with the Penguins’ unwillingness to mess with a good thing. Pittsburgh has gone 10-4-1 since Thanksgiving and has thus kept its forward lineup intact on a nightly basis, with injuries allowing, understandably not leading to many opportunities for playing time for the once highly-touted Finn.

In 21 games with the Penguins this season, Puljujärvi had mustered three goals and five assists for eight points with a -2 rating. He did so while averaging 11:37 per game, up from the paltry 9:11 he received in a 22-game run with Pittsburgh last year. The 6’4″, 201-lb winger has added 30 hits and played an extremely effective game defensively. Despite starting 58.3% of his shifts at 5-on-5 in the defensive zone, the Pens still controlled 50.6% of shot attempts with Puljujärvi on the ice compared to 49.5% without him.

Those latter numbers make it a tad surprising to see him become available to the rest of the league for free, although it’s become clear there isn’t much of a role for him in Pittsburgh anymore. He’s in the back half of a two-year, $1.6MM contract he signed with the Pens in February 2024 after a lengthy stint on the free-agent market following double hip surgery.

It’s become clear that Puljujärvi likely won’t recapture the form that saw him produce a career-high 0.55 points per game back with Edmonton in 2021-22, but he remains a legitimately useful piece for a bottom-six shutdown unit. With a cap hit of $800K and no commitment past this season, it won’t be surprising if he ends up landing with another NHL club tomorrow.

Image courtesy of USA Today Sports.

East Notes: Ostapchuk, Malkin, Puljujarvi

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The Ottawa Senators have loaned forward Zack Ostapchuk to the Belleville Senators of the American Hockey League. Ostapchuk was recalled earlier this week and has been shuttled back and forth a few times over the last seven days in paper moves that were most likely made to accrue cap space. It’s unknown if this move is for a similar purpose, but it is certainly a possibility.

The 21-year-old dressed in three games this week for Ottawa, going scoreless while averaging just under nine minutes of ice time per game. In six games this season, the former second-round pick has a single assist and carries a plus/minus of +1. The Senators are back in action on Tuesday night against their provincial rivals the Toronto Maple Leafs.

In other Eastern Conference notes:

  • Matt Vensel of the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette believes that we haven’t seen the last of Pittsburgh Penguins superstar Evgeni Malkin on the wing. The Penguins experimented with Malkin on Sidney Crosby’s wing, and while the results were outstanding (as expected), it made the team extremely top-heavy. Crosby and Malkin were flanked by Rickard Rakell and the threesome dominated in possession and ignited Crosby and Malkin offensively. However, on Friday against the Capitals, Penguins head coach Mike Sullivan moved Malkin back to center in an effort to get the team’s second line going. Vensel believes Sullivan could move Malkin back to the wing again in the future, particularly if the Penguins were to go out and get a second-line center next summer.
  • Matt Vensel writes about Penguins forward Jesse Puljujarvi and his deployment this season. Puljujarvi has been a healthy scratch three times this year for Pittsburgh and has played just over 11 minutes per game. Vensel writes that a lot of people have a bone to pick with how the 24-year-old has been used thus far this season. Penguins head coach Mike Sullivan was reportedly okay with using Puljujarvi earlier in the year when he was producing offense, and it was a palatable trade-off for some of his defensive shortcomings. However, in the last two weeks, Puljujarvi’s offense just hasn’t been there with one point in his past seven games. Sullivan is quoted as saying the details of Puljujarvi’s defensive game haven’t been there and have been slipping.

Metro Notes: Puljujarvi, McGroarty, Gudbranson

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Josh Yohe of The Athletic doesn’t believe that Pittsburgh Penguins forward Jesse Puljujarvi should be removed from the Penguins lineup again anytime soon. Puljujarvi was a healthy scratch for the Penguins back on Saturday night against the Toronto Maple Leafs after he had been good in the first two games of the season, posting one assist.

The 26-year-old returned to the lineup last night for Pittsburgh against the Montreal Canadiens and tallied an assist in just over 12 minutes of ice time. He has looked like a different player this season for Pittsburgh after having a full summer of training. Puljujarvi had been limited last season after having double hip surgery and was healthy scratched on numerous occasions. When he did play, he wasn’t impactful, posting three goals and an assist in 22 games.

In other Metropolitan Division notes:

  • Josh Yohe of The Athletic wonders if Penguins rookie Rutger McGroarty might get some time in the American Hockey League soon after he was healthy scratched last night against Montreal. The 20-year-old has barely been noticeable so far this season, going pointless in three games while averaging just 11:37 of ice time per game. He has been decent away from the puck registering three hits and a takeaway while posting solid possession numbers. Pittsburgh has given McGroarty ample opportunity in the offensive zone, starting him in the offensive zone 75% of the time, but the former 14th overall pick has yet to show much of a pulse offensively at the NHL level.
  • The Columbus Blue Jackets have announced that defenseman Erik Gudbranson will not return to tonight’s game against the Florida Panthers after suffering an upper-body injury. Gudbranson collided with teammate Sean Monahan in the neutral zone and was in obvious pain as he got to his feet. He appeared to be favoring his wrist when he left the ice and didn’t come out with his Blue Jackets teammates for the start of the third period. Columbus doesn’t play until Thursday against Buffalo and the Blue Jackets will likely have an update on Gudbranson before that contest.

Penguins Notes: Puljujarvi, St. Ivany, McGroarty

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Pittsburgh Penguins forward Jesse Puljujarvi appears to have the inside track on a third-line role with the team (as per Dan Kingerski of Pittsburgh Hockey Now). Kingerski writes that Penguins head coach Mike Sullivan has slotted Puljujarvi on the team’s third line as the stock has risen considerably during an impressive training camp.

The former fourth overall pick is finally healthy this year after undergoing double hip surgery and a full summer of training has the 26-year-old dominating intrasquad scrimmages and preseason games. The Penguins badly need depth scoring this season as their top six forwards have carried the offense in the previous two years, resulting in them missing the playoffs in both seasons. Puljujarvi seemed destined for the AHL just a few weeks ago, but his emergence has potentially changed the roster dynamic for the Penguins as they head into the regular season.

In other Penguins notes:

  • Kingerski also wrote about Penguins defenseman Jack St. Ivany’s emergence on the Penguins bottom defensive pairing. St. Ivany was a steadying presence on the Penguins third pairing at the end of last season and his NHL arrival coincided with Pittsburgh going on an incredible stretch of hockey that nearly resulted in a playoff spot. This year the expectations on St. Ivany have been adjusted and the results look good so far. St. Ivany appears as though he will start the season in the NHL as his puck moving has improved and he has transitioned from a defensive defenseman to more of an all-around defender. St. Ivany has been noticeable for the Penguins and would be a bargain in the NHL as he is signed for three more seasons at just $775K annually.
  • Rutger McGroarty seemed likely to start the season on the Penguins NHL roster, but that could be in question as the regular season nears (as per Dan Kingerski of Pittsburgh Hockey Now). McGroarty looks NHL-ready, and his hockey IQ is off the charts, but the knock on him continues to be his skating and work in the defensive zone. The 20-year-old is likely an NHL player already, but the Penguins will have to figure out if he can put up enough offense to compensate for his shortcomings in the defensive zone. Nothing is set in stone for the Penguins opening night lineup, but regardless of whether McGroarty is in it, he should see NHL time at some point this season.

Evening Notes: Marchessault, Lambert, Peterka, Puljujarvi

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Predators winger Jonathan Marchessault had his number retired by the QMJHL’s Québec Remparts today, becoming the ninth player in franchise history to receive the honor.

Marchessault, now 33, appeared in 254 games for the Remparts in parts of four seasons from 2007 to 2011. He’s top 10 in franchise history in games played, goals (98, t-ninth), assists (141, sixth), and points (239, eighth). He and Marc-Édouard Vlasic are the only active NHLers to have their numbers retired by the Remparts.

The honor comes just over a year after Marchessault hoisted the Conn Smythe Trophy, helping the Golden Knights to their first championship in franchise history with a league-leading 13 goals and a +17 rating in 22 playoff games. He landed a five-year, $27.5MM deal with Nashville in free agency this summer.

Elsewhere from around the league this evening:

  • A strong showing early on in training camp has Brad Lambert primed to make a real run at starting the regular season as the Jets’ second-line center, writes Sportsnet’s Jacob Stoller. Lambert, 20, was a consensus top-five pick entering his draft year but fell to Winnipeg at 30th overall in 2022 after a disappointing showing. He got fully back on track in his first pro season last year, leading the AHL’s Manitoba Moose in scoring with 55 points (21 G, 34 A) in 64 games. “I think I’ve improved on my attention to detail,” he told Stoller. “Being able to play on the defensive side of the puck, being reliable and being able to react quicker. I’ve tried to evolve every aspect of my game.”
  • Televised hockey is back with the first few preseason games taking place Saturday night. There’s a blowout going on in Buffalo with the Sabres’ mostly NHL roster dressed against some fringe Penguins talent, leading to some wide-open play. Buffalo’s John-Jason Peterka and Pittsburgh’s Jesse Puljujärvi have dueling hat-tricks, marking an especially important early showing for the latter. Puljujärvi, the fourth overall pick in 2016, had just four points in 22 games with Pittsburgh last season and needs a strong preseason showing to avoid landing on waivers.

Team Finland Announces Final 2024 World Championship Roster

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Team Finland has finalized their roster for the 2024 IIHF World Championship, with the additions of Jesse Puljujarvi and Valtteri Puustinen bringing the lineup to a full 23 skaters and three goalies. The lineup isn’t too deep with NHL talent, though it does feature top 2024 NHL Draft prospect Konsta Helenius, who joined the Men’s squad after posting seven points, all assists, in five games at the World U18 Championship. Helenius will have a chance to learn from San Jose Sharks centerman Mikael Granlund – who plays a similar pass-first, high-tempo style. Finland will hope the duo can click, with the support of NHL wingers, as they chase their third gold medal over the last five World Championships.

The full roster is as follows:

F Hannes Björninen (Örebro, SHL)
F Mikael Granlund (Sharks, NHL)
F Konsta Helenius (Jukurit, Liiga)
F Arttu Hyry (Kärpät, Liiga)
F Jere Innala (Frölunda, SHL)
F Juha Jääskä (HIFK, Liiga)
F Pekka Jormakka (Jukurit, Liiga)
F Oliver Kapanen (KalPa, Liiga, Canadiens)
F Saku Mäenalanen (SCL, National League)
F Ahti Oksanen (Oskarshamn, SHL)
F Iiro Pakarinen (HIFK, Liiga)
F Patrik Puistola (Jukurit, Liiga)
F Jesse Puljujarvi (Penguins, NHL)
F Valtteri Puustinen (Penguins, NHL)

D Oliwer Kaski (HV71, SHL)
D Mikko Lehtonen (ZSC, National League)
D Olli Määttä (Red Wings, NHL)
D Jesper Mattila (KalPa, Liiga)
D Juuso Riikola (SCL, National League)
D Rasmus Rissanen (Örebro, SHL)
D Vili Saarijärvi (SCL, National League)
D Veli-Matti Vittasmäki (Tappara, Liiga)

G Emil Larmi (Växjö, SHL)
G Lassi Lehtinen (MoDo, SHL)
G Harri Säteri (Biel, National League)

The World Championship is set to kick off in Ostrava and Prague, Czechia beginning on May 10. Finland will once again be commanded by head coach Jukka Jalonen set to coach in his 10th World Championship. Jalonen has also manned the Finnish bench at the World Juniors and served as a coach in the KHL and Liiga. He now works with Finland’s Men’s team full-time, building out this year’s roster with general manager Jere Lehtinen. Lehtinen, an 875-game veteran of the NHL and former Stanley Cup winner, has served as the GM for Finland’s men’s team for the last nine seasons.

Penguins Sign Jesse Puljujärvi To Two-Year Deal

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The Penguins signed UFA winger Jesse Puljujärvi to a two-year contract on Sunday, per a team release. The 2016 fourth-overall pick will earn $800K per season through the end of 2024-25.

Per PuckPedia, Puljujärvi will earn the league minimum $775K salary this season before seeing a $50K pay bump in 2024-25. He will be an unrestricted free agent for the second time in his career when the deal expires.

Puljujärvi, 25, had four goals and nine points in 13 games on a PTO with Pittsburgh’s AHL affiliate in Wilkes-Barre/Scranton after returning from a double hip surgery he had received during the offseason. He began training with the Penguins in early December, signing a PTO at the NHL level to do so.

The Finnish winger looked like a long-term fixture in the Oilers’ top six as recently as two years ago. A long and winding development path led him to a career-best 2021-22 campaign in which his 36 points and +22 rating in 65 games, oftentimes playing alongside Connor McDavid, earned him a spattering of Selke Trophy votes. Their line with Zach Hyman was arguably the best in the league that season at generating offense, producing 4.18 expected goals per 60 minutes, according to MoneyPuck.

However, Puljujärvi regressed significantly in 2022-23. After posting five goals and 14 points (along with a -11 rating) in just 12:15 of average ice time compared to the prior season’s 16:14, the Oilers cut bait with their former top prospect and traded him to the Hurricanes for the signing rights to forward prospect Patrik Puistola. His possession impacts rebounded down the stretch with Carolina, but the point production did not – he went without a goal in 24 regular-season and playoff games and added only three assists. As such, the Hurricanes opted not to issue Puljujärvi a qualifying offer and let him become a UFA last July.

Last summer’s surgery suggests his skating and overall play were hampered by a lingering hip issue in 2022-23, and the Penguins are banking on his ability to keep driving possession in a limited role out of the gate. There is a fair amount of upward mobility for Puljujärvi in Pittsburgh if his play warrants it – underwhelming seasons from Rickard Rakell and Reilly Smith have created multiple openings in the team’s middle six. He may be best used in a bottom-six role to start, however, as poor defensive play from veterans like Noel Acciari and Matthew Nieto has been one of the team’s biggest weaknesses. Puljujärvi could provide an upgrade there and boost the team’s goal differential, even if he’s not providing a truckload of offense himself.

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