Edmonton Oilers notes: Jesse Puljujarvi sits for fourth-consecutive game

With the Edmonton Oilers on a roll, forward Jesse Puljujarvi was back in the press box Tuesday with the Minnesota Wild in town.

Puljujarvi, 20, has been a healthy scratch for the past four games and questions continue to arise whether the talented winger would be better served developing in the American Hockey League?

Now in his third season, Puljujarvi is still struggling to find a regular place in the Oilers lineup.

“I’m always worried about a player’s confidence and it doesn’t just have to be a young player, it could be Kyle Brodziak who sits out Game 2 of a season after joining a new team as well,” said Oilers head coach Todd McLellan. “You’re always concerned about confidence and how that affects players, but I look at Jesse’s situation, and I’ve addressed him directly the past few days and I’m addressing Jesse again (Tuesday).

“He hasn’t played a game in five days, he missed three games in four nights and he won’t play (Tuesday) which isn’t ideal, but we have to look at the group and the whole package, the total package and look at what’s going on right now. We also have to look at individuals and there has to be a balance.”

Selected fourth in the 2016 NHL Entry Draft, the Oilers felt fortunate when the Columbus Blue Jackets and their Finnish general manager, Jarmo Kekalainen, pbaded on the highly-touted Finnish prospect.

Yet Puljujarvi is proving to be a bit of an enigma for the Oilers, who see the star potential in the six-foot-four, 201-pound winger, but are having trouble harnessing it. Puljujarvi has a goal in seven games for the Oilers this season, who went into their game against the Wild on a three-game win streak.

“Players need to play,” McLellan said. “Right now, we’re sitting here with a 19 year old who has sat out two games (Evan Bouchard) and is going to sit his third, but nobody is questioning me about him. He can go back to junior but nobody is questioning me on that.

“What ends up happening is you’re trying to make the best decision for the group. While you’re doing that you also want to develop players and the NHL is a tough place to develop players, and we have a number of young players on our team right now. On some nights all of them are playing well and other nights some aren’t. We have to consider the entire group as a whole.”

Benning feeling like old self

The return of defenceman Matt Benning from concussions symptoms has bought the Oilers some time with Bouchard, who has two games left before the first year of his entry-level contract kicks in.

Benning returned to the lineup Saturday against the Nashville Predators after missing the previous three games. It didn’t appear to take him long to get back up to game speed in the 5-3 win.

“It’s not that you lose it, I was only gone for a week. It’s just that physical contact, especially if it’s something with your head, you can be tentative to go in and engage,” Benning said. “My mindset going in was that I felt fine, it was just going in and battle hard and defend well.”

Benning sustained his head injury in the Oilers home opener on Oct. 18 against the Boston Bruins. He left the game in the first period after playing just under two and-a-half minutes.

“I don’t know exactly which play gave me the symptoms,” Benning said. “But it was when I hit (David) Backes and then I turned and (Chris) Wagner hit me and then (Brandon) Carlo crosschecked me, so it could have been any of those.”

It was a tough shift for Benning, who was back in the lineup against the Wild on Tuesday.

“I had symptoms right after that game against Boston, and then a few days later, I had nothing,” Benning said. “I think it was originally from that first hit when I hit Backes. He’s a big body.”

Big minutes

It is not easy riding shotgun with Wild star defenceman Ryan Suter, who logs among the most minutes of any player in the NHL.

Yet Matt Dumba is doing more than just holding his own, playing on the top pairing with Suter and logging nearly as much ice time.

Heading into the game Tuesday, Dumba was second to Suter in ice time for the Wild, logging 24:16 per game.

“It’s awesome. It helps with the flow of the game so much,” Dumba said. “From a player’s standpoint, everyone wants to be out there and wants the puck. I’m getting more and more used to it. I think last year was my first big step towards that and now it’s even more regular thing. I’m happy for that opportunity, but I know I can’t take it for granted either.”

Dumba, 24, is in his fifth full season with the Wild after being selected seventh overall by the club in the 2012 NHL Entry Draft. He has not changed his style of play in an effort to conserve energy with the heavier workload.

“Honestly, I don’t find it to be an issue,” Dumba said “I work hard to be in this kind of shape and it’s not a problem for me. Ryan is awesome, and he makes it look really simple and I’ve learned a lot from him. It’s good. We have something good cooking here.”

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On Twitter: @DerekVanDiest