Edmonton Oilers: 5 burning questions for 2018-19 season

3. Is Jesse Puljujarvi in line for a breakout year?

It’s easy to say whoever will play on Connor McDavid’s wing this season will break out. We saw it with Patrick Maroon, when he had the best goalscoring output of his career while playing with him. The two contenders to earn that honor will be Rattie and Puljujarvi, but even if the latter doesn’t play with McDavid, he’s still in line to make a huge leap next season.

The Oilers will have some interesting lineup decisions to make. Draisaitl’s ability to play both wing and center is a huge boon for this team. If they want, they can go top-heavy by playing him with McDavid and having them overwhelm opponents. But if they want to create some depth, they can shift him to second-line duty.

If Draisaitl plays primarily at center next season, Puljujarvi will have the honor of playing on either his or McDavid’s wing. But he has enough high-end skill to create offense for himself — there’s a reason why he was taken fourth overall. His skating and stick-handling should make him a burden to defend one-on-one, while the release on his shot is surprisingly quick.

His best game last season was a three-point night against the Vancouver Canucks. All his best attributes were on display, from his quick stick, his elusive skating to his excellent vision and shot, and he hardly had to rely on Draisaitl to get his points:

If he can play at that level on a consistent basis, he’ll be a force in this league. And considering his number is 98, it would only feel right for him to play next to 97.