The meaning behind the name Jesse, according to those who research these things, is ‘gift’ and that fits the storyline regarding Jesse Puljujarvi’s arrival as an Edmonton Oilers draft pick. We loved JP the moment he fell to No. 4 overall, and have become even more enamored with him through various impressive feats: Scoring his first goal in his first game, destroying a pizza in view of media cameras, and playing a stunningly mature game for a person of his age. JP is in the AHL right now, and Oilers fans are curious about his experience, what fair expectations might be, and perhaps most importantly, when will we see him again?

In his three AHL games, Puljujarvi has played mostly with Josh Currie as his center and Joey Laleggia on the left wing. I have seen him with Jere Sallinen at center (with Braden Christoffer on LW) at even strength, but also spent time with Jujhar Khaira before his recall (Laleggia was the winger on that line in JPs AHL debut).

On the power play, and he appears to be on the 1PP, Puljujarvi is the key shooter (left side high, the WJ spot he and Patrik Laine made famous) and is on the ice with Anton Lander, Taylor Beck and Ryan Hamilton. Joey Laleggia is the only defender (he is now a LW, but has been a career defenseman) on the unit.

Much has been made about JP not playing on the Lander line, but for me that is something we will probably see as time goes on. Puljujarvi began his AHL career with Sallinen (for a game) and since then moved up to the 2line with Josh Currie as center.

Seems to me the coach (Gerry Fleming) may see a chance to deploy two scoring lines (Hamilton—Lander—Beck and Laleggia—Currie—Puljujarvi) and that makes sense from here. It is also important for Puljujarvi to earn his opportunities as opposed to having them handed to him. In the games I have seen, the Condors have a lot of jump with the teenager on the ice, and the fact he can impact the offense with complementary AHL players from the start is a tell.

We are fortunate to have a really good comparable for Puljujarvi, in the person of Mikko Rantanen of the Colorado Avalanche. Chosen No. 10 overall in 2015 by the Avs, Rantanen spent his first year in the AHL (or most of it) and gave us an excellent line in the sand for Puljujarvi.

With the understanding that Puljujarvi is just getting adjusted, and the sample size is beyond minute, the numbers are on par with Rantanen’s of one year ago. Young Rantanen is enjoying a productive NHL season in 2016-17, and we should expect similar results from JP all things being equal.

The trade deadline is February 28, and Bakersfield will play 16 more games between now and then (a 17th game occurs on the exact date, Feb. 28). If Puljuarvi plays all of them, he comes in at 19 games, and that would be (in my opinion) enough track to get a really good feeling for what he can bring. It also gives the player enough time to have confidence in himself.

Still don’t know. His NHLE for the three games puts him at 39 points as a projection, but three games isn’t enough to run as a reasonable reflection of anything. The Rantanen projection (44 points) may be fair for JP too, but we can’t know it yet.

Puljujarvi is a wonderful prospect, big and strong and unusually aware defensively for a teenage forward. I still can’t get him surrounded offensively, and I am hoping these 19 or 20 AHL games will give us some clues about this side of his game.