Friday Feature: Puljujarvi 'Figuring Out How The New Me Works' On PTO With Penguins

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WILKES-BARRE, Pa. -  It's been a long road back to playing hockey again for Jesse Puljujarvi.

After finishing last season with the Carolina Hurricanes and undergoing bilateral hip surgery in the offseason, he's been working hard off the ice in hopes of getting another opportunity to return to the NHL.

For Puljujarvi, the waiting for that next opportunity ended when he signed a tryout contract (PTO) with the Pittsburgh Penguins on December 10 - working both on and off the ice with the NHL club before getting a subsequent PTO to play with the Penguins' AHL affiliate Wilkes-Barre/Scranton Penguins.

"This was for him to evaluate himself a little bit [and see] where he's at," Wilkes-Barre/Scranton Penguins head coach JD Forrest explained to InsideAHLHockey.com. "From our standpoint, we want him to play games to see how he feels."

Puljujarvi made his return to game action on January 5 against Springfield to begin the Penguins' first three-in-three weekend of the season, with a scheduled scratch in the middle game on Saturday before returning to action on Sunday, January 7 against the Hartford Wolf Pack for a total of two games in three days.

"I'm feeling good. No pain, so that's good," Puljujarvi told InsideAHLHockey.com after that Sunday affair against Hartford, before adding, "Getting back to playing after a long process of rehabbing, yes, it was fun to come come back."

Much as you would expect for a player returning after missing nearly a full calendar year of action, there's definitely been some rust to shake off for Puljujarvi in his return from having surgery on both of his hips.

"Yeah, there's so many details.  I had to figure out getting... like ready to play. [I'm] always finding the new new things and learning," Puljujarvi said of his lengthy rehab process to get to this point. "It was fun to play again, after a long, long [layoff]."

Puljuarvi's somewhat unique combination of size and skill is the reason why he was selected fourth overall by the Edmonton Oilers in his draft year back in 2016. That skill set also afforded him the opportunity to see NHL games with the Oilers right away in his first season of pro hockey in North America during the 2016-17 season.

In all, the 25-year-old has already appeared in 334 NHL games, but it's that hope that he will be able to return to form following an extensive offseason surgery that is driving Puljujarvi - as well as the Penguins organization for making the decision to bring him in - that has the power forward back on the ice and in game action - albeit at the AHL level.

"I think it's just finding the right right way to play and get things going good with what my strengths are," Puljujarvi stated, explaining, "so like skating, good forechecking and playing hard. Yeah, finding myself."

It has taken some time, but if his recent game logs are any indication Puljujarvi is starting to re-find his offensive touch as evidenced by goals in each of his last two games as well as an a multi-point effort in the team's 3-2 loss to Providence Wednesday night - bringing his statline to four points (two goals, two assist) through his first six games with Wilkes-Barre/Scranton.

"Yeah, it's great to see," Forrest said of Puljujarvi's offensive confidence growing over the past several games. "He's got a lot of good attributes, it's just been a long time since he's played hockey so that's the main thing he's doing here -- he's trying to get his game back together, get some confidence [and] get used to everything again. And so he's taking steps each day."

While he might not have the same exact flash and power in his skating stride, the progress he has made since returning to game action earlier this month should keep both Puljuarjvi - and the Penguins organization - optimistic about what continued action in the AHL may provide.

"It's just figuring out how the new me works. There's a lot of new things that I can use, and improve too," Puljujarvi said. "Every day is a new day to get better and learn."

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