LMAO, then why is he not on the PK?

dude just stop, you dont understand analytics and are basing your opinions with a naked eye, CLEARLY you don't watch the oilers or puljujarvi, puljujarvis defensive abilities outweigh his offence by a large margin, the scoring will come for him as hes so young. Your looking at hokcey the wrong ways my friend.

why should he be? hyman and nuge are much better penalty killers, good d doesnt automatically make you a good penalty killer. Players have roles.

LMAO, literally an "elite defensive player" would be your top PK forward! Do you even understand what the PK does? It is literally your best defensive players trying to kill off the penalties. You don't have "elite" defensive players sitting on the bench when you are forced to play defense. Come on man give your head a shake.

I think you're sorely mistaken on what Puljujarvi is if this is the comparison you're making.

While Puljujarvi is a better defensive forward than Anderson by a metric mile, the thing Puljujarvi does so well that has him so highly rated in the analytics community is how well he is in transition. From the neutral zone all the way to behind the opposing goal line, Puljujarvi's combination of speed, size, and checking forces a lot of turnovers and shots on net, which is how his CF% and GF% numbers end up so vaulted compared to what we see with the eye test. I think the GF% is very much a factor of Edmonton rolling Jesse with forwards far more adept at finishing than he is (pick any of their top centers and he gels with them effortlessly) but the CF% is very much a fruit of his own labour.

Anderson doesn't do that. I think you overvalue his intangibles (leadership, toughness, etc) unfairly against those of Puljujarvi's, the latter having more of what Edmonton needs than what Anderson brings. McDavid and Draisaitl don't need a winger to make space for them: their skill level is so vastly ahead of the majority of the league that they make their own space (in unique ways too). Players that come out of board battles with the puck, force turnovers and transition, create rebounds, or have the two-way acumen to hang back a bit and allow Connor and Leon to do what they do best are Edmonton's primary needs on the wing. A skilled winger that can both finish and boost the production of Edmonton's top centers is also a want, but Anderson only IN THEORY checks one of those boxes. I don't believe he has the skill to keep up with Connor or Leon to generate plays that result in he or the dynamo cashing in on that play. Kane is the only player thus far besides Draisaitl to mesh with McDavid like that.

The likes of Lucic (for like a season), Hyman, Puljujarvi, Maroon, Nugent-Hopkins, and Yamamoto only brought one of those two things to the table and they never really managed to stick on McDavid's flank. Jury's still out on Puljujarvi because he's younger and still in theory could develop some more finishing ability. Anderson is more of what we've already seen paired with McDavid. I already know how that story ends and I don't think the financial burden is worth the gamble. On that note, if the Oilers organization is adamant about wanting to re-up Kane, why would they tie Anderson's large hit to themselves? It's nonsensical.

Likewise, comparing Pitlick to Puljujarvi is nightmarishly absurd. Habs fans wouldn't be in arms about forcing trades for Puljujarvi or offering him neither cap nor term if JP was another Tyler Pitlick. Your entire argument is flawed and is really beginning to come across as baiting. Your biases are ridiculous.

u just don't get it. Read the other guys in depth comment, everyone understands it the way beterchiarelli explained it except you

Puljujarvi's stats are vaulted because he plays with McDavid and Draisaitl, remove him from that line and he sucks. Anderson has and does everything you said Puljujarvi does and has (Puljujarvi's combination of speed, size, and checking forces a lot of turnovers and shots on net, which is how his CF% and GF% numbers end up so vaulted compared to what we see with the eye test) but Anderson does it with much lower quality players. Anderson at his best is what Oiler fans hope Puljujarvi turns into.

I am quite sure that Edmonton hopes to re-up Kane but I am not sure how that will work out for them with his wrongful termination grievance. If he wins that then he will be sent back to SJ and his 7 Mil salary reinstated. There is no way Edmonton can work that into their current cap. I personally (obviously) don't want an Anderson-Puljuarvi swap. It doesn't make sense for the Habs and like you said doesn't make sense for the Oilers if they can keep Kane.

The Pitlick reference was to prove a point, that 2.5 mil is an overpayment for a guy who scored less than 15 goals and 25 points a season. Sure Puljujarvi could be a late bloomer at 24 but he could also be just another Joel Armia.

His production and shot numbers don't diminish all that drastically depending on his linemates. He clips along at third-line scoring production and still has CF%/GF% numbers hovering at or above 55%. Using Edmonton's four primary centers as a proxy for a line he may be on:

JP with Connor McDavid:
59.57% CF% | 69.39 GF%

JP without Connor McDavid
56.56% CF%|56.67 GF%:

Connor McDavid without JP:
54.27 CF% | 52.70 GF%

JP with Leon Draisaitl:
58.31 CF% | 61.54 GF%

JP without Leon Draisaitl:
58.73CF% | 67.50 GF%

Leon Draisaitl without JP:
47.63 CF% | 50.59 GF%

JP with RNH:
58.06 CF% | 63.64 GF%

JP without RNH:
58.08 CF% | 64.71 GF%

RNH without JP:
46.66 CF% | 50.82 GF%

JP with Ryan McLeod:
59.09 CF% | 57.14 GF%

JP without Ryan McLeod:
58.53 CF% | 65.28 GF%

Ryan McLeod without JP:
52.95 CF% | 46.67 GF%

Unless the entire composition of the Oilers roster is a group of bums through-and-through, Puljujarvi is some secret sauce enigma that turns the Oilers into an offensive zone nightmare. There's very clearly an analytics-vs-eye test disconnect here as I can't even explain it sometimes. Every Oilers center fares worse without Puljujarvi. Young Jesse is an offensive driver (somehow) regardless of who he plays with. The shot rates and goal scoring rates aren't subjective: they just tell the story as is.

I don't know where you draw the "Anderson is what Oilers fans hope Puljujarvi turns into" conclusion from as the two are so stylistically different that the two would never be compared. There's a reason why the current flavour-of-the-day comparison is the version of Nichushkin we're seeing right now. That's what I hope to see the Oilers give Puljujarvi a legitimate chance of becoming.