Jesse Puljujarvi reportedly underwent double hip surgery and won’t be qualified by the Hurricanes

It looks like Jesse Puljujarvi will be hitting the open market this summer.

According to Chris Johnston, the 25-year-old has undergone double hip surgery and the Carolina Hurricanes won’t be issuing him a qualifying offer.

Puljujarvi is coming off of a one-year, $3 million contract that he signed with the Edmonton Oilers last July. If the Hurricanes were to qualify him, he would have become a restricted free agent with arbitration rights and could have earned a raise on another one-year contract. Instead, the big Finn will become an unrestricted free agent for the first time in his career.

The Oilers selected Puljujarvi with the No. 4 overall pick in the 2016 draft. He made his NHL debut as an 18-year-old and spent his three entry-level contract seasons bouncing between the big league club and their American Hockey League affiliate. All told, he scored 17 goals and 37 points over 139 games with the Oilers during those three seasons.

Puljujarvi requested a trade from the Oilers and ultimately opted to play in Finland for the 2019-20 season. Following an impressive showing with Karpat, Puljujarvi returned to the Oilers on a two-year deal worth $1.175 million. He scored 15 goals and 25 points in 55 games in the shortened 2021 season and put up 14 goals and 36 points over 65 games in 2021-22.

The Oilers brought Puljujarvi back to play in a bottom-six role for the 2022-23 season but he wound up becoming a salary cap casualty ahead of the trade deadline. He scored 14 points for the Oilers over 58 games and was dealt to the Hurricanes in exchange for Patrik Puistola, a prospect the team opted not to sign.

It’ll be interesting to see if another team takes a flyer on Puljujarvi this summer. His 2018-19 season came to an end early as he underwent hip surgery so this is his second time undergoing the procedure.