Poker Face
4 years ago
Even though absolutely nothing has changed in the impasse between Jesse Puljujarvi and the Edmonton Oilers since he first made it known publicly that he wants a fresh start someplace else, the Finnish winger and agent Markus Lehto keep re-stating their position. We get it, Jesse. So does Oilers’ GM Ken Holland.
It’s almost like Puljujarvi and Lehto believe if they keep talking, Holland will be coaxed into getting something done just to shut them up. Well, anybody who has seen Holland operate knows that’s not going to happen. Instead, a poker-faced Holland isn’t flinching. If something gets done, it’ll be on his terms and under circumstances that make sense for the Oilers.
The latest from Puljujarvi comes via Finnish television station Laari in post on TSN today. I don’t know if something is being lost in translation, which is possible, but Puljujarvi says, “I want a team where I get a place in one of the first two lines and where I get to play for 15 minutes per game. Then I could show what I’m going for. That is my main goal.”
Yes, Jesse. Again, we know. I’ll resist the urge to go on and on that getting a place on the first two lines, as Puljujarvi puts it, with any team generally involves doing something to earn it. We have been back and forth on that aspect of this impasse – regardless of what else is happening here, as in how or if Puljujarvi fits in with this group — this entire off-season. Trade me.
IN GOOD TIME
All the while, Holland sits and listens. He’s holding all the cards and he’s not flinching, even with Lehto telling Helsingin Sanomat Monday, “This is not a bluff attempt. Puljujarvi is and has been convinced that he needs a change. He is an NHL player . . . this is about getting an opportunity for a new start. The salary can be almost anything.”
Holland’s latest response to what he’s hearing from Lehto and Puljujarvi is very much the same, exactly the same actually, as what we’ve heard from him since the player and his agent started down this road. Matter of fact is Holland, resisting the urge to mention he’s got the superior hand in this back-and-forth.
“I talked recently with his agent again,” Holland said. “Nothing’s really changed, so the next couple of weeks here I’ve got to heat up the phone lines and see if I can find a solution, otherwise Europe is probably the only solution. We’ll see what happens.”
As for “what happens,” if this was Pete Chiarelli at the table, we’d likely have seen something, as in Puljujarvi being moved down the road for next-to-nothing, by now. There’s no doubt in my mind that Puljujarvi will be moved and that the return won’t be very good – no surprise in that – but it will happen when Holland decides the timing is as good as it’s going to get on his end, not because Lehto and Puljujarvi keep talking.
Like I said before, I think Puljujarvi is making a mistake because he’s holding a losing hand with the money on the table, but it’s his career and his mistake to make. Things didn’t have to end up this way, but here we are. When you make a point of saying you aren’t bluffing, as Lehto just did, you usually are. It seldom ends well.
Previously by Robin Brownlee
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