OK- hear me out. We have a history of driving up Edmonton's desired contractees in the lead up of the season. Treliving has done this multiple times. IMO that's exactly what's occurring here.
NOW, here is the interesting part. If the oilers do sign Virtanen outright rather than PTO him, they will need to move someone. That someone is very likely Pulju given it's his position in the lineup that Virtanen would be taking. Kenny holland may just look at this (if the rumors about disliking pulju are confirmed and the oil lack of advanced stats) and think hey, another right shot big body who put up 36 points in his last full season. Cheaper than Pulju! Perfect.
The reality is that Puljujarvi is a much superior player than Virtanen. Now I don't think there's any chance at all that the Oilers would trade the flames Puljujarvi. But I do believe that we would be interested in that player. And perhaps there's a third party out there who will facilitate that.
Tinfoil removed, I certainly hope that we're playing conspiracy and not trying to sign this moron.
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