Former Leafs GM Kyle Dubas Places Fourth Overall Pick on Waivers, Per Elliotte Friedman
Former Maple Leafs GM Kyle Dubas made a shocking move on Monday when he placed Jesse Puljujarvi on waivers, a sign the former 4th overall pick has fallen off.
In a stunning bit of hockey news on Monday, Pittsburgh Penguins GM Kyle Dubas decided he was ready to move on from former 4th overall pick Jesse Puljujarvi after he placed him on waivers.
The news was broken by NHL Insider Elliotte Friedman on X.
It ends the saga of Puljujarvi in Pittsburgh and potentially closes some big doors for the former highly touted prospect who never seemed to put things together at the NHL level.
Jesse Puljujarvi's Rollercoaster Career
It's been quite the downfall for Puljujarvi since being drafted by the Edmonton Oilers 4th overall in 2016. Expected to be the offensive power forward with Taylor Hall, Ryan Nugent-Hopkins, and Connor McDavid; Edmonton was poised to be a dynasty reminiscent of their 1980's dominance.
However it wasn't mean to be for Puljujarvi. Beset by injuries and never hitting the 20-goal plateau in his career, he stagnated in Edmonton before he found himself traded to the Carolina Hurricanes for prospect Patrik Puistola, showing how far his potential had dropped.
He was even worse with the Hurricanes, not scoring a goal in 17 games and ended up not being re-signed. He then played on a PTO with the Pittsburgh Penguins last year and ended up getting a full-time contract out of it.
With the Penguins he scored six goals in 43 games; for his career he has 57 goals and 126 points in 377 games. Still only 26, he still has time to turn it around and perhaps a team desperate for offense can try and revive his career.
Teams will now have 24 hours to place a claim on Puljujarvi and then he will be designated to the AHL or potentially released outright from his contract. It will be interesting to see if the former prospect can get his career back on track or be labelled another NHL 'draft bust'.
| POLL | ||
DECEMBRE 30 | 1328 ANSWERS Former Leafs GM Kyle Dubas Places Fourth Overall Pick on Waivers, Per Elliotte Friedman Do you believe Kyle Dubas made a mistake placing Jesse Puljujarvi on waivers? | ||
| Yes | 507 | 38.2 % |
| No | 821 | 61.8 % |
| List of polls | ||
