Finnish winger Jesse Puljujärvi, 27, has signed a
two-year contract with Genève-Servette, the National League
club announced on Tuesday.
“I’m really excited to be joining Genève-Servette!” Jesse
Puljujärvi is quoted in the club’s press release. “I’ve
heard nothing but good things about the organization and the league,
and I’m looking forward to experiencing it all. We have a great
group of players, and I’m going to give my all to help the team
succeed. I’m also looking forward to visiting the city, which looks
amazing, and meeting the fans.”
“We are very pleased with the arrival of Jesse, a player we have
been following for some time now,” said club sports manager Marc
Gautschi. “Thanks to his physique and speed, he can be absolutely
dominant on the big Swiss ice rinks. We are convinced that with the
help of our coaching staff, he will further develop his scoring
skills and become an essential offensive leader for our team.”
News of Puljujärvi heading to Switzerland
began two weeks ago while he was still playing in the Calder Cup
finals for the Charlotte Checkers.
He joins a Genève-Servette team that won its first-ever national championship in Switzerland in 2023-24 and won the Champions Hockey League in 2024-25, but has missed the playoffs the last two National League seasons.
In addition to Puljujärvi, Genève-Servette has under contract for 2025-26 former NHLers Markus Granlund, Josh Jooris, Marc-Antoine Pouliot, Taylor Beck and Tim Berni, whose NHL rights are still retained by the Columbus Blue Jackets.
French Former Habs Prospect Swaps Bitter Rival Teams In Switzerland
American-born French
left winger Tim Bozon was rumored as far back as November to have
already signed a four-year contract with Swiss National League club
Genève-Servette. The problem was, the 30-year-old former Montreal
Canadiens prospect currently plays for Lausanne HC – Geneva’s
fiercest rival.
Born in Älvkarleby, Sweden, Puljujärvi grew
up in Finland and is a product of the Kärpät
club in northern Finland. It is with that Oulu-based
club that he first turned pro at age 16 in 2014-15.
Puljujärvi was chosen fourth overall by
the Edmonton
Oilers in the 2016 NHL Entry Draft. He has 128 points in 387
career NHL regular-season games with the Oilers, Carolina
Hurricanes, Pittsburgh
Penguins and Florida
Panthers. He also has six points in 27 playoff games with
Edmonton and Carolina.
During his career, Puljujärvi returned to play
for Kärpät in
2019-20 and part of 2020-21, as pandemic-related restrictions delayed
the NHL’s start to that season.
In June 2023, he underwent double hip surgery
and missed half of the following season.
When Puljujärvi was waived by Pittsburgh in
February of this year to terminate his contract “by mutual
agreement” ahead of the international transfer deadline, it was
widely expected that he’d end up in Europe. Switzerland was one of
his rumored destinations at that time, as
was Kärpät. However, he surprisingly signed with Florida
instead.
This past season, Puljujärvi had 10 pointss in
31 NHL games, split between Pittsburgh and Florida, and 16 points in
26 AHL games, split between Wilkes/Barre-Scranton and Charlotte. He
also had 11 points in 18 playoff games for Charlotte, which included
an overtime goal in Game 5 of the finals against the Abbotsford
Canucks, which kept the Checkers alive for one more game.
Photo © Bob Frid-Imagn Images
More on Jesse Puljujärvi:
Puljujärvi goes from double hip surgery to Finland's World Championship roster
Jesse Puljujärvi: “It’s been a long process, I’m really happy to be here”
Jesse Puljujarvi Waived By Penguins – Headed Back To Finland?
RUMOR: Jesse Puljujärvi Headed To Switzerland After AHL Finals
