Report: Jesse Puljujarvi hasn’t negotiated new contract with Finnish team

A report surfacing out of Finland says that Jesse Puljujarvi and his agent haven’t negotiated a new contract with Kärpät Oulu, the team he played for last year.

There, Puljujarvi scored 24 goals and 53 points in 56 games in a year that saw him light up the Finnish Elite League.

Finnish website MTV Uutiset (MTV News), through google translate, says that while there are yet to be contract negotiations, the organization is ready to negotiate. One thing reportedly holding up negotiations is the uncertainty surrounding the next NHL and when that start date will be. MTV Uutiset reports that this has frozen the market on international players.

Puljujarvi’s Finnish agent, Sami Mettovaara says Puljujarvi has had interest expressed from “all over the world.”

This comes two weeks after another Finnish report suggested that time may have healed some wounds between Puljujarvi and the Oilers organization. Puljujarvi repeated his stance at the time of “never say never” when it comes to a potential reunion in Alberta’s capital.

In May, Oilers GM Ken Holland told OilersNation’s Jason Gregor there was no real update on the situation given how things had slowed down massively in the NHL. 

The latest news is interesting to say the least and may just add another layer to the possibility of Puljujarvi coming back to North America and maybe even Edmonton. I’ve long had the belief that the best place for him to play would be with the Edmonton Oilers. He has all the opportunity to step in and be a top-nine scoring winger given the offensive depth the Oilers have been able to slowly build.

All in all, the Puljujarvi saga has been looming over the Oilers for years and with every passing day I think we’re closer and closer to finding a resolution.

On Twitter: @zjlaing