Could Jesse Puljujarvi Still End Up With the Columbus Blue Jackets?

The Columbus Blue Jackets famously passed on Jesse Puljujarvi in the 2016 NHL Entry Draft, but is it possible he still ends up in Columbus?

The Edmonton Oilers are an interesting trade partner for the Columbus Blue Jackets, they’d likely be interesting in adding both Artemi Panarin and Sergei Bobrovsky assuming they both become available in trade talks going forward.

Jesse Puljujarvi hasn’t been great for the Oilers, with him coming up in trade rumors fairly consistently including one article from the Athletic. If the Blue Jackets were somehow able to convince Bobrovsky for example to accept a sign and trade to Edmonton, then getting a player like Puljujarvi and one of their goaltenders back in return could be possible.

Edmonton is famous for their players performing much better after leaving the team and Peter Chiarelli has a reputation for trading away young players who turn into superstars.

The question many people are probably asking is “why would the Columbus Blue Jackets want Jesse Puljujarvi when they passed on him?” The answer is fairly simple, he still has high potential and a change of scenery could be huge for him. Playing for John Tortorella could get Puljujarvi to not only succeed offensively but also use his size to his advantage more often.

Adding Puljujarvi would give the Blue Jackets more depth scoring, and potentially adding him to the wing of a player like Alexander Wennberg, with his elite playmaking ability, could help Puljujarvi find his goal scoring touch in the NHL.

Puljujarvi is only twenty years old at this point and the former fourth overall pick isn’t necessarily playing badly however he’s certainly not living up to expectations. Trading one of the pending UFAs for a player like Puljujarvi who will be under team control for quite a while, could be beneficial in the long term if he is able to live up to his potential.