Jesse Puljujärvi finds himself in the Pittsburgh Penguins dog-house

The Pittsburgh Penguins were gearing up to play the Calgary Flames, but head coach Mike Sullivan made the executive decision to healthy scratch the Finnish forward.

According to Ryan Hall of Oilers Daily, During the pregame media scrum, Taylor Haase of PGH asked the question too why he was scratched and Sullivan explained that Pujujarvi needed to grasp and understand the team concept and focus on the details.

So far, the Bison Kind has notched 3 goals and 5 assists for the Pens, but Mike Sullivan admits that he's struggling to understand the "team concept", in addition to poor D-zone coverage.

The Edmonton Oilers selected Jesse Puljujarvi fourth overall in the 2016 Draft, but struggled heavily with confidence and consistency.

Now, it appears that his old tendencies are creeping back in, but Mike Sullivans's reasons for healthy scratching Puljujarvi are somewhat strange...

He was a fan favourite in Edmonton and an incredible person, but wasn't able to bring consistency to his level of play and scoring. He never lived up the expectations of such a high draft pick, and the Oilers traded him to Carolina in 2023.

Although NHL enthusiasts are relatively perplexed by Mike Sullivan's explanation of the situation, hopefully Pool Party manages to get back into the starting lineup soon enough.