Jesse Puljujarvi Placed on Waivers - Why this is a mistake

According to multiple reports, the Pittsburgh Penguins placed Jesse Puljujarvi on waivers on Monday, December 30th.

Puljujarvi was averaging just around 11 minutes of ice time this season in 21 games. He had also been a healthy scratch since December 7th in a win over Toronto.

While he started the season with with five points in six games (1 goal, 4 assists), Puljujarvi went through a stretch of ineffectiveness while the Penguins were in their rut in October and November. He did score goals in back to back games in mid-November, but those games against San Jose and Tampa Bat proved to be some of his last with the Penguins.

Puljujarvi was once a highly anticipated prospect. He was drafted 4th overall by the Edmonton Oilers in 2016, but never produced to his potential outside of a decent 2021-22 season where he put up 36 points in 65 games.

He was offloaded by Edmonton to the Carolina Hurricanes where he put up just two points in 17 games. The Swede signed a two year, $1.6M deal with the Penguins earlier in 2024, and the remainder of his contract ($800k) will be up in the air if he is claimed.

Why letting him go may not be the best move...

Perhaps the weeds of this argument are more theoretical than objective, but advanced hockey metrics would suggest that Puljujarvi is good for a team. In his time with the Penguins, his Corsi and Fenwick ratings were both over 50%.

Corsi and Fenwick are advanced metrics that factor in shots, blocks, and missed shots to calculate how often a player's team is in control of the puck. When both the Corsi and Fenwick ratings exceed 50%, it's an indicator that when the player is on the ice, his team is in control more often than not. Elementary, yes, but being in control is a good thing.

Other, more objective, metrics would promote this idea. Puljujarvi's puck protection was a problem in the earlier parts of his career, but since he arrived in Pittsburgh, he has just 14 giveaways in well over 400 minutes.

In 2024, Puljujarvi has also been one of the best at creating offensive rebounds. According to MoneyPuck.com, his Rebounds Created Above Expected of 6.3 is one of the best in the NHL. Rebounds translate to more scoring chances, so even though Puljujarvi is not on the score sheet himself, he is creating chances that can lead to goals. Throughout his career, Puljujarvi has been among the best in the NHL at creating rebounds.

Pair rebounds with the greasy style of play that Michael Bunting displays, and you'll find more goals than not. The problem is that the Penguins have not even tried to exploit that with all the healthy scratches allotted to the 26-year old this month. Based on initial reactions, hockey fans from around the league seem eager for their team to jump on claiming him.

Why the Penguins did it anyway...

As much as I love to look deeply into analytics and metrics, there's only one number that matters at the end of the day: wins.

Puljujarvi's last game was the win against the Toronto Maple Leafs back on December 7th. Since then, the Penguins are 5-3-1. It's not to say that the Penguins weren't winning with Puljujarvi, but it's true that they've been winning a lot without him.

The Penguins have surged back into the playoff conversation. They were not in such a position when Puljujarvi was playing. With the newly found health of Blake Lizotte as well as the acquisition of Philip Tomasino, someone had to pay the price for an overloaded forward corps.

Now with the injuries to Owen Pickering and Marcus Pettersson, the move to place Puljujarvi on waivers might indicate that a move for another defenseman is coming. Freeing up a small sum of money is negligible, but not insignificant.

The confusing conclusion to this development is why Puljujarvi was nixed instead of a fourth liner like Matt Nieto who has added nothing to the Penguins' bottom line. There is a chance Puljujarvi clears waivers, but given his potential, there will undoubtedly be a taker.

You can weigh in on our Pens' Labyrinth X poll. Was waiving Jesse Puljujarvi a mistake? Tell us why or why not in the replies. Be sure to follow us on X @PensLabyrinthFS.