A lot of people expected the Columbus Blue Jackets to select Jesse Puljujarvi with the 3rd overall pick in the 2016 NHL Entry Draft, but instead they decided to pass on him and selected Pierre-Luc Dubois instead. That allowed the Edmonton Oilers to swoop in and select the 18-year-old with the 4th pick.
There was a lot of hype surrounding Puljujarvi heading into the season, and it only grew after the rookie scored in his first career NHL game. However, things didn’t exactly go as planned after that. In the next 27 games, Puljujarvi totaled 7 assists and did not score during that span, which resulted in him getting sent down to the Bakersfield Condors of the AHL.
On Monday night, the Condors were in San Jose for a date with the Barracuda and it’s one they wanted to forget right away. San Jose led Bakersfield 3-1 after the first period after outshooting them 20-3. They ended up losing 7-1, but got a positive note out of the loss which was Jesse Puljujarvi scoring his first career AHL goal.
It took Puljujarvi a little longer to find the back of the net in the AHL than it did in the NHL, but he’s off to a great start in Bakersfield with four points through his first four games. The youngster still has a few things to learn, but he should be back in the NHL by next season.
(H/T Twitter/Condors)
