Today in a new statement Pittsburgh Penguins General Manager Kyle Dubas confirmed the reason why Jesse Puljujarvi's contract was terminated. Earlier today former Edmonton Oilers top 5 pick <a href='https://www.hockeylatest.com/nhl/news/former-oilers-4th-overall-pick-has-shockingly-been-placed-on-waivers-for-contract-termination' class='lien_marqueur' target='_blank' rel='noopener'>Jesse Puljujarvi had his contract terminated by the Pittsburgh Penguins.</a> The move came as a surprise due to the fact that for much of this season, Puljujarvi had been up and down from the NHL to the AHL getting several opportunities to contribute for the Penguins. The Penguins clearly had a plan for Puljujarvi to be part of their organization in the present and going forward as he continued to get back to full health after major hip surgeries. This afternoon Penguins GM Kyle Dubas provided some much needed context on the reasons why the decision was made to terminate Puljujarvi's contract. <h3>Kyle Dubas Confirms Why Jesse Puljujarvi's Contract Was Terminated</h3> Just a couple hours after the move was made by the Penguins Dubas has now spoken to the media and given his justification for the move. First Dubas acknowledged all of the work that Puljujarvi put in to be able to return to the NHL and be an impact player. A year ago, we committed to working with Jesse as he returned from substantial hip surgeries in the summer of 2023. Jesse put in tremendous work and returned to Pittsburgh this fall in terrific shape earning his way to regular ice time out of camp. Dubas then pivoted to more recently and admitted that he and Puljujarvi's agent had been working on solutions to get him more NHL playing time. These discussions led to the realization that for such an opportunity to occur a contract termination would likely be the best course of action. Over the last week, those discussions have led us to grant Jesse his request for contract termination so he may explore opportunities with other organizations around the world. <div align='center' class='pl20 pr20'><blockquote class='twitter-tweet' data-lang='en'><a href='https://twitter.com/mattvensel/status/1888351847250899255'><div style='border:1px solid #CCCCCC;border-radius:10px;padding:20px;width:300px;'>Loading from Twitter ...</div></a></blockquote></div> This statement from Dubas seems to show that he still has a soft spot for Puljujarvi and wants to see him succeed whether that be in Pittsburgh or elsewhere across the NHL. Now over the next 24 hours, every team in the NHL will have an opportunity to claim Puljujarvi before his contract is officially terminated and he becomes a free agent.