Oilers: How Jesse Puljujarvi stacks up with the 2016 NHL Draft

It’s safe to say that Jesse Puljujarvi never panned out in the National Hockey League.

Drafted by the Edmonton Oilers fourth overall in the 2016 draft, Puljujarvi is the latest installment in a new series looking back at past Oilers draft picks, and how they stack up with their respective classes.

Puljujarvi wasn’t the only draft pick in that first round that didn’t pan out, though.

The first round misses

Believe it or not, Puljujarvi has played the 13th most NHL games among first round picks from that class, appearing in 387 games with the Oilers, Pittsburgh Penguins, Carolina Hurricanes and Florida Panthers across eight seasons.

Two top 10 picks have played fewer NHL games — Olli Juolevi, drafted fifth overall by the Vancouver Canucks, and Alexander Nylander, drafted eighth overall by the Buffalo Sabres.

Juolevi has played in just 41 games with the Canucks, Florida Panthers and Detroit Red Wings, while Nylander has played in 126 with the Sabres, Pittsburgh Penguins, Chicago Blackhawks, Columbus Blue Jackets and Toronto Maple Leafs.

The Value

There was lots of late round value in this draft. Jesper Bratt was selected by the New Jersey Devils in the sixth round, 162nd overall, and has played in 552 games, the seventh most of any player taken that year.

Also taken in the sixth round was Brandon Hagel, selected 159th overall by the Buffalo Sabres. Hagel never played for the Sabres, and never signed with them, either. They relinquished his rights and he would sign with the Chicago Blackhawks, later breaking out as a member of the Tampa Bay Lightning. His 375 NHL games rank 23rd in the class.

Round two had some solid selections, too. Alex DeBrincat was taken 39th overall by the Blackhawks, playing the third most games in the class, while Samuel Girard, selected by the Nashville Predators 47th overall, has played in the eighth most NHL games.

How does Puljujarvi stack up with the class?

Whether you look at games played, goals, assists or points, Puljujarvi ranks within the top-23 among players taken that year.

With 387 games, 58 goals, 70 assists and 128 points, he’s played the 21st most games, scored the 19th most goals, the 23rd most assists and the 22nd most points.

Those are more than respectable numbers when you look at the rest of the class, as according to HockeyDB, the averages for all those categories are well surpassed by the Bison King. The average games played are 183, the average goals are 32, the average assists are 50 and the average points are 82.

Who should’ve the Oilers selected instead?

There were two other players taken shortly after Puljujarvi that the Oilers should’ve taken: Matthew Tkachuk, who went sixth overall to the Calgary Flames, or Clayton Keller, who went seventh to the Arizona Coyotes.

With a career that’s seen him score 240 goals, 395 assists and 636 points in 642 games, Tkachuk leads the class in games played and assists, is third in goals behind DeBrincat and Auston Matthews, taken first overall by the Toronto Maple Leafs, and ranks second in points.

Keller, meanwhile, has scored 196 goals, 312 points and 508 points in 601 games, ranking within the top-five for each category.

Hindsight, of course, is 20/20, in situations like these, and while Puljujarvi never hit the ceiling expected of a top-five pick in a draft, he made a solid career. And seemingly at every stop he made, he was under appreciated for the things he did so well, playing strong defensive hockey away from the puck and helping his teams tilt the ice in the right direction.

His career has now taken him overseas, having signed a two-year deal in Switzerland to play for the Swiss National League’s Genève-Servette HC.

One has to wonder what kind of a career he would’ve had if he wasn’t plagued with hip issues.

Past classes

• Nail Yakupov — 2012 NHL Draft