Oilers linked to Blues in Puljujarvi trade talks

We’re just eight days away from the official opening of the Edmonton Oilers’ 2019-20 season, but there’s been apparently little progress made between the club and former top pick Jesse Puljujarvi.

The 21-year-old Puljujarvi reportedly informed Oilers general manager Ken Holland that he will not sign a new contract with the team and will only return to the NHL once his rights have been traded. It’s been reported that Puljujarvi is upset that he hasn’t been given a top-six role on the Oilers and would like to be traded to a team that would give him more opportunity.

There was some trade chatter surrounding Puljujarvi earlier in the offseason that linked him to the Pittsburgh Penguins, but obviously a deal has yet to be consummated. According to Penguins insider Dan Kingerski, the Penguins and Oilers approached the idea of a Puljujarvi trade earlier this offseason, but Penguins GM Jim Rutherford balked at the asking price, which was believed to be forward Bryan Rust in a one for one deal.

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When news of Puljujarvi’s trade demands broke earlier this summer, an NHL source told PHN the Penguins made contact with Edmonton but did not like the price, believed to be Bryan Rust.

Now Puljujarvi is being linked to another Cup contender, this time the St. Louis Blues and rookie forward Klim Kostin. In his latest 31 Thoughts column for Sportsnet, NHL insider Elliotte Friedman reports that the Blues and Oilers discussed the idea of a Kostin for Puljujarvi trade. 

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Also off to a great start is St. Louis’s Klim Kostin , who will face tougher opposition in the second week of games. I think he came up in Jesse Puljujarvi discussions, and no one’s ever doubted his talent. Big week for him.

Interesting. The 20 year old Kostin has already played two years of pro hockey at the AHL level, putting up 52 points. He was selected in the first round, 31st overall, of the 2017 NHL Entry Draft. By comparison, Puljujarvi has struggled both at the NHL and AHL level over the past two seasons, but is already a point per game player with Karpat in the Finnish SM-liiga so far this season.