Jesse Puljujarvi's Future in Carolina Has Been Decided

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Joseph Agosti
June 9, 2023 (11:04)

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Mercurial Finnish winger Jesse Puljujarvi will be on the move once again as it appears that the Carolina Hurricanes will not be tendering him a contract, making him an unrestricted free agent.

Carolina to Let Puljujarvi Go

The Daily Faceoff's Frank Seravalli spoke about Puljujarvi in an article concerning players who he considers unlikely to receive qualifying offers.

"It was a worthy gamble for the Hurricanes, acquiring Puljujarvi for next to nothing, to see if he could find magic with some fellow Finns. It didn't work out. He didn't score a single goal in 24 total games and was a healthy scratch for eight of Carolina's 15 playoff contests."

Puljujarvi has proven to one of the most controversial players in the NHL over the past few years, with the analytics community considering him to be a very underrated player in the past few years.

Old-guard hockey establishment have criticized Puljujarvi for his lack of passing and shooting skills, as well as a lack acclamation to the North American style of game.

Even though Puljujarvi played with two of the top players in the NHL in Connor McDavid and Leon Draisaitl, he could not produce at a level expected of when playing with such transcendent talents.

Puljujarvi's production fell off a cliff this season with him only producing five goals and nine assists in 58 games in Edmonton. These totals only got worse in Carolina with no goals and only two assists in 24 games.

Now that he is a free agent, will teams take a flyer on a big-bodied player with excellent puck retrieving and defensive abilities but with severe offensive limitations? Or will this be it for a former highly touted 4th overall pick?