Jesse Puljujarvi is ready to put the past behind him and turn a new page.
The 2020-21 season is just a thought of memory for Puljujarvi now, who said Thursday this was his year to take a step forward in his game.
“Now is the start of everything again. I will try to be the best player I can be.”
Jesse Puljujarvii reflects on his play last season & going into starting fresh #Oilers Training camp. pic.twitter.com/LHUDdeajx3
— Edmonton Oilers (@EdmontonOilers) September 22, 2022
A fresh attitude for Puljujarvi is great to see. Despite having a tough second half of the year and playoffs, Puljujarvi as a whole was a very productive player for the Oilers finishing the year with 14 goals and 36 points — a 45 point per 82 game pace that firmly cements him as a top-six. producer.
Still, the consistency would’ve been nice over the full season but a lower-boy injury and a mid-season bout with COVID-19 reared its ugly head.
Puljujarvi opened day one of training camp on a line with Zach Hyman and Leon Draisaitl, and if that’s not a signal of where the Oilers feel he could fit this year, I don’t know what is.
Jason Gregor wrote this morning about the early session of training camp and the Oilers’ salary cap concerns. You can read about that here.
Gregor noted the following as the morning lines:
Hyman-Draisaitl-Puljujarvi
RNH-McLeod-Foegele
Holloway-Malone-Virtanen
Chiasson-Hamblin-Philp/Petrov
Nurse-Wanner
Broberg-Barrie
Niemelainen-Demers
Peters-Kesselring
Campbell, Rodrique and Fanti.
Wanner is filling in for Cody Ceci.
And here, thanks to The Athletic’s Daniel Nugent-Bowman, are the afternoon lines:
Kane-McDavid-Yamamoto
Janmark-Shore-Ryan
Schaefer-McKegg-Bourgault
Benson-Griffith-Esposito
Kulak-Bouchard
Murray-Samorukov
Kaldis-Kemp
Kielb
Skinner
Pickard
Signs are pointing towards the end of the line for Philadelphia Flyers defenseman Ryan Ellis. GM Chuck Fletcher told reporters Thursday he has been dealing with a torn psoas muscle.
Ellis has been out since Nov. 13, 2021 and the torn muscle, which from the lower spine through the hip, has caused significant issues to Ellis’ hip and core muscles.
Fletcher said Ellis is considered to be out indefinitely, and it’s unknown if he can ever return.
Here’s some of what DailyFaceoff’s Frank Seravalli wrote about the injury:
Ellis’ injury is devastating. So little is known about the psoas muscle and given its location, it is largely inaccessible to surgical repair. His hip and hip adductors are also ailing, according to Fletcher. It took a long time last season to properly identify and diagnose the injury. Ellis is believed to have undergone exploratory procedures in an attempt to find relief, as the torn psoas muscle has had a significant impact on his ability to live a normal life away from the rink.
Ellis was acquired by the Flyers in a July 2021 trade for Phillipe Myers and Nolan Patrick.
Speaking of Nolan Patrick, he’s another player whose season is apparently being shut down. Golden Knights GM Kelly McCrimmon said Thursday that Patrick won’t play at all this season.
Patrick has had issues with migraines in his pro career and has struggled to find consistency in the NHL. He played in the 2017-18 and 2018-19 seasons with the Flyers, but missed the entirety of the 2019-20 season, before a 52-game campaign the following year.
In 25 games last year with the Golden Knights, Patrick scored two goals and seven points.
Gabriel Landeskog “won’t skate anytime soon,” Jared Bednar said. He’s dealing with an injury from last year and will miss the start of the year.
— Peter Baugh (@Peter_Baugh) September 22, 2022
The Colorado Avalanche will be without Gabriel Landeskog to start the season.
Landeskog underwent surgery last March to deal with a “nagging injury,” but returned for the playoffs where he scored 11 goals and 22 points in 20 games.
Zach Laing is the Nation Network’s news director and senior columnist. He can be followed on Twitter at @zjlaingor reached by email at [email protected]
- When: On Thursday, January 12th, we’re jumping on a flight at the Edmonton International Airport and making our way to Vegas. On Sunday evening, we’ll fly back from Vegas to Edmonton. So the dates that you need to block off for this trip are January 12th to 15th.
- Where we’re staying: After landing in LV, we’ll jump on the free shuttle and make our way to the Park MGM before settling in for a good night’s sleep. 😉
- What you get: Your roundtrip flight, hotel, shuttle, viewing party (Friday night), game entry — we got seats this time (Saturday night), and exclusive entry into our pre-trip ‘get to know everyone’ event.
- How Much: The total cost for the trip, flight, hotel, and entry to the game is $1499 per person (based on double occupancy)
- Tickets: Ready to dive in? Click this link.
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