Puljujarvi’s preference is to play in the NHL
Ryan Rishaug: (On a report that Jesse Puljumarvi was signing with Jokerit) … From understanding, contract talks between the Oilers and Puljujarvi are ongoing. The team would be surprised if there was any deal.
Puljujarvi is not eligible to sign a deal with another league until the end of June.
He’s still rehabbing his injury ‘in cooperation with the team.’
Darren Dreger: Puljujarvi doesn’t have any deal in place. His agent Markus Lehto: “Jesse is in Edmonton rehabbing and training. He feels great. NHL is the first option.”
Chris Johnston: Lehto on the Jokerit report: “totally inaccurate.”
TSN Radio Vancouver: McKenzie on Puljujarvi: “His preference is to play in the NHL, his preference is also to be traded out of Edmonton. I don’t think there’s any secret about that.”
Three teams that could have some interest in Zaitsev
@Prospects_Watch: Elliotte Friedman said that he could see the Vancouver Canucks, New Jersey Devils, and Tampa Bay Lightning having some interest in Toronto Maple Leafs defenseman Nikita Zaitsev.
Right-handed defenseman are not easy to find. One area that is appealing to some teams is that you know what his contract is going to be like for the next several seasons. (five years at $4.5 million)
TSN Radio Vancouver: Mike Johnson on TSN 1040 on Toronto Maple Leafs defenseman Nikita Zaitsev, who is in the rumor mill: “Let’s start with positives. He’s a right-shot defenseman, those are hard to come by. He makes $4.5m, which in today’s NHL isn’t a lot. He has years left, so that some cost-certainty. He’s also a pretty good skater, he gets around the ice well.”
TSN Radio Vancouver: Johnson continues: “He logs a lot of short-handed minutes. The tough parts are..not an offensive guy, and his ability to move the puck up the ice consistently and efficiently is not ideally what you want it to be. He has the puck on his stick…and just kinda gives it away.”