If pre-season scoring prowess translates into regular-season success, it looks like J.J. Peterka and Jesse Puljujarvi could be duking it out for the 2025 Rocket Richard Trophy.
The 22-year-old German and the 26-year-old Finn each posted hat tricks in the Buffalo Sabres’ wild 7-3 win over the Pittsburgh Penguins on Saturday, which kicked off the 2024 pre-season in entertaining fashion.
Peterka is looking to build off a solid 28-goal sophomore campaign as he plays out the last year of his entry-level contract, while Puljujarvi is working to show that he still belongs in the NHL after spending part of last season in the minors.
— Pittsburgh Penguins (@penguins) September 22, 2024
The 2016 first-rounder looked fast and energized in a top role as the Penguins iced a bare-bones lineup on the road in Buffalo. After managing three goals in 22 games after he signed with the Penguins last February, Puljujarvi is trying to show that he can provide inexpensive depth scoring within Pittsburgh’s top-heavy lineup.
This is the fourth pre-season since the NHL returned to its usual scheduling after the pandemic pause. Over the last three years, no player has scored more than six goals in exhibition play, so Peterka and Puljujarvi have both made terrific starts.
Last year’s leaders each had five goals — Jesper Bratt of the New Jersey Devils, Adrian Kempe of the Los Angeles Kings and Robert Thomas of the St. Louis Blues. All three are established forwards in their mid-20s, more in Puljujarvi’s age range than Peterka’s, although with more straightforward career paths.
Bratt, Kempe and Thomas all built off their strong pre-seasons to reach new career highs in points, but only Thomas also set a new scoring standard, with 26 goals.
After going through injuries and other challenges, Puljujarvi will hope that this comeback year doesn’t end up like what fellow Finn Patrik Laine just went through. After looking sharp with four goals in five pre-season games, Laine only tallied six goals in 18 games with the Columbus Blue Jackets in 2023-24. He went through injuries and illnesses, spent time in the NHL’s player assistance program, and is now looking to get his career back on track with the Montreal Canadiens.
Every year, it seems like an unexpected name or two rockets to the upper reaches of the pre-season points race, but then has trouble carrying that momentum forward.
In 2023, Emil Bemstrom of the Columbus Blue Jackets put up seven points in five pre-season games. But the 24-year-old had a tough time staying in the lineup when the regular season began and was dealt to Pittsburgh in February.
Other players who have faced similar challenges included Toronto’s Nick Robertson and Denis Malgin, who each put up eight pre-season points in 2022. And in 2021, Brendan Perlini dazzled with six goals and seven pre-season points with the Edmonton Oilers but he couldn’t sustain his production. By December, he was on waivers. The 2014 first-round pick of the Arizona Coyotes managed just five points in 23 regular-season games with the Oilers in what proved to be his final NHL campaign at age 25.
It's really not a 2021 #Oilers pre-season game until Perlini pots one. #BattleOfAlberta | #LetsGoOilers pic.twitter.com/yFzLFoLYLK
— Edmonton Oilers (@EdmontonOilers) October 5, 2021
In the first week of exhibition action, we generally won’t see much of the game’s biggest stars. But as the exhibition schedule gets closer to wrapping up on Oct. 5, don’t be surprised to see some of those top names mixed in among the pre-season scoring leaders.
Connor McDavid, in particular, seems to like to tune himself up. He led all NHL players with nine points in the 2021 pre-season and finished in the top 10 last year with seven points in four games.
After a three-game slate on Saturday, 16 more teams will make their pre-season debuts on Sunday. The schedule includes a double-header between the Florida Panthers and Nashville Predators and the first-ever game for the new Utah Hockey Club, against the St. Louis Blues.
Peterka’s Sabres will host the Blue Jackets on Monday before they travel to Pittsburgh for a rematch against Puljujarvi’s Penguins on Tuesday.
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