Puljujarvi says return to Oilers 'may be possible': report

Jesse Puljujarvi hasn't ruled out returning to the Edmonton Oilers after playing this season in Finland.

"You can never say no," the 22-year-old restricted free agent forward told Finnish news outlet Tampere Iltalehti. "I have grown and I see things a little differently. There's now a different GM (Ken Holland) and head coach (Dave Tippett) out there. They're building a winning team in Edmonton. It may be possible that I will still be playing there."

Puljujarvi left the Oilers at the end of last season and said he would never play for them again. He signed with Karpat in Liiga, Finland's top league, on Aug. 27, and scored 53 points (24 goals, 29 assists) in 56 games. Although his NHL contract expired after the 2018-19 season, the Oilers still hold his rights.

Holland was hired as general manager May 7, 2019, replacing Peter Chiarelli, who was fired Jan. 22. Tippett was named coach May 28, 2019, replacing Ken Hitchcock, who coached Edmonton for the final 62 games last season after Todd McLellan was fired Nov. 20, 2018.

"It was a good and constructive conference call," Puljujarvi said of his recent talk with Holland and Tippett. "However, I will not go into the details. The call left a positive overall picture."

Puljujarvi was selected by the Oilers with the No. 4 pick in the 2016 NHL Draft but struggled to earn a regular spot in the lineup and spent part of each of his three NHL seasons with Bakersfield in the American Hockey League. He scored nine points (four goals, five assists) in 46 games with the Oilers last season and has 37 points (17 goals, 20 assists) in 139 NHL games.