The 24-year-old forward ranked second in the AHL with 32 goals for the Hartford Wolf Pack this past season, one behind Wade Megan of the Chicago Wolves in three fewer games.
Jensen got a qualifying offer from his parent club, the New York Rangers, meaning the team would retain his rights should he return to North America.
He appeared in only seven games for the Rangers this past season and was a restricted free agent after signing a one-year deal with New York last July.
As summer drags along, it's the time of year when hope springs eternal and NHL teams begin preparing for the new season.
September training camps are especially important for prospects, as they give those players - along with management and fans - the chance to see how they stack up against established pros.
A strong showing can improve a player's professional fate, while their performance can help determine whether they're developing fast and furious, or starting to drift.
Here are three rookies to keep an eye on in September.
That's because Puljujarvi had been running neck and neck with Patrik Laine in the second overall discussion all year long, and appeared to be a lock for Columbus and its general manager, Jarmo Kekalainen, who also hails from Finland. Instead, Dubois got the call, and was sent back to the QMJHL to develop his game last season.
There, Dubois scored 21 goals and added 34 assists in 48 games, while contributing five assists in seven games for Canada at the World Junior Championship, winning a silver medal.
The 19-year-old may need another season in junior hockey before making the jump to the NHL, but two factors have opened up an opportunity to improve his fate in training camp.
For one, the Blue Jackets traded away Brandon Saad for Artemi Panarin earlier this offseason, adding a high-end offensive talent while sacrificing a more well-rounded game. Meanwhile, Columbus failed to add a center who can play in the top six.
A similarly punishing two-way forward with size and zero deficiencies, Anze Kopitar, is the type of player Dubois will aspire to become at the next level. Pierre-Luc Dubois has the potential to develop into an elite two-way forward who excels as a positive catalyst in every facet of the roles he can play, be it the dynamic scorer, the set-up man, the intimidating power forward, or the defensive-minded shutdown guy. He is the type of player nobody likes to play against.
If Dubois can even come close to displaying a Kopitar-like form in training camp, Kekalainen's decision to pluck him third overall could begin to pay off as early as next season.
Jake DeBrusk, Boston Bruins
The first-round selections made by the Boston Bruins in 2015 have become a running joke, not so much based on the actual selections but rather because of who they passed up.
In fairness, when a team calls a handful of names at the annual event, it takes some time for a clearer picture of relative success or failure to emerge. Still, it's not a good look that Boston's three picks are the only players from the top 25 (other than a Russian goalie) who haven't yet made their NHL debuts.
That could change as soon as opening night, and Jake DeBrusk appears to have the inside track on being the first of the trio to crack the NHL roster.
DeBrusk spent last season playing for the Providence Bruins, for whom he registered 19 goals and 49 points, good for fifth among AHL rookies. He also chipped in six goals and three assists in 17 playoff games, gaining valuable pro experience along the way.
Team president Cam Neely is on record as saying the club needs to fill holes on the left side, and a strong showing by DeBrusk in training camp could go a long way toward that end, while also quieting the noise surrounding general manager Don Sweeney's apparent failures during the 2015 selection process.
Daniel O'Regan, San Jose Sharks
Speaking of players who excelled as AHL rookies, no one was more impressive than Daniel O'Regan last year. The San Jose Sharks prospect led all first-year pros with 58 points in 63 games for the Barracuda, a total that ranked him 12th among all AHLers.
That performance came on the heels of a successful college career, during which he averaged a point per game through 154 appearances with Boston University.
Drafted 138th overall by the Sharks in 2012, there now exists an opportunity for O'Regan to take on a prominent role in San Jose.
In the wake of Patrick Marleau’s departure to the Toronto Maple Leafs in free agency last week, the Sharks will be depending on their young players, such as O’Regan, to step up and fill the void.
The organization believes O’Regan has to potential to play a role similar to that of Jake Guentzel with the Pittsburgh Penguins, who tied the NHL rookie record for points (21) in one Stanley Cup playoff season this spring.
"I honestly don’t remember the last guy to do what he did in the American League as a rookie," Sharks director of hockey operations Doug Wilson Jr. said. "The opportunity is there for him."
Marleau left massive skates to fill, but the 23-year-old O'Regan will be out to show he's up to the task once camp begins in September, which could also make him a draft-day steal in the process.
The man who put one European nation on the international hockey map will try to do so with another.
Ted Nolan has been hired as head coach of the Polish men's national hockey team, the IIHF announced Wednesday.
The former Buffalo Sabres and New York Islanders bench boss took over the Latvian program in 2011 and helped it make great strides, including a quarterfinal appearance at the 2014 Olympic Games in Sochi, where it put forth a strong showing in a 2-1 loss to Canada.
Nolan also coached Latvia at the World Championships from 2012-14.
Poland's men's team is ranked 20th internationally and will attempt to qualify for the 2019 worlds next spring.
“I love challenges," Nolan said upon arriving in Poland this week. "I’ve always been an underdog my whole life. When this opportunity came and seeing where Polish hockey has been for a while, hopefully I can make a difference and rise up to a higher level. I’m really looking forward. It’s probably my biggest challenge to date and my biggest excitement to date."
If Marian Hossa is eventually deemed eligible to be placed on long-term injured reserve, it won't be this summer.
"Chicago is not attempting to utilize LTI(R) during the offseason for Hossa and, as a result, the determination of whether it will be available next season is not a time-sensitive matter," NHL deputy commissioner Bill Daly told The Athletic Chicago's Scott Powers in an email Tuesday.
Hossa has already been ruled out for the entire 2017-18 campaign due to a skin disorder, but the league hasn't yet decided whether the veteran forward can be placed on LTIR - thereby freeing up his $5.275-million cap hit.
Daily said in June that a decision was expected by July 1, but that deadline may have shifted when the club elected not to seek the move until the fall.
The Blackhawks have minus-$34,795 in projected cap space at the moment, according to CapFriendly.
When the Arizona Coyotes made then-26-year-old John Chayka their general manager last spring, experts around the NHL expected the young front-office executive to turn around a franchise that's been a bottom-feeder for the better part of two decades
What they didn't expect, however, was that he could do it so quickly.
Starting with netminder Mike Smith being shipped to Calgary and culminating with Tuesday's signing of new head coach Rick Tocchet, Chayka has pulled off a series of moves that should lift the Coyotes back into relevance.
That's easier said than done, of course. But when considering the young, talented core the team already boasts, the offseason shuffle becomes much more exciting.
Here are three moves that made the Coyotes the early winners of the 2017 offseason:
Hjalmarsson, Raanta, Stepan complement young core
They may not be the three biggest names changing cities this summer, but that doesn't diminish their potential impact on a Coyotes squad lacking veteran leadership.
Stepan fills one of the glaring holes up the middle on Arizona's roster, and will serve as an excellent mentor to developing pivots Dylan Strome and Christian Dvorak.
Meanwhile, Niklas Hjalmarsson and Antti Raanta each provide the veteran stability the club has longed for on the back end, while still having a lot left in their tanks at ages 30 and 28, respectively.
Hjalmarsson is especially intriguing when you consider that he's played with Coyotes defenseman Oliver Ekman-Larsson, as the pair previously suited up together at the 2014 Winter Olympics and the 2016 World Championship.
Moving on from Doan, Smith signifies end of an era
The offseason moves Chayka should arguably be praised most for are the guys he let go.
Smith and Shane Doan were the faces of the franchise for the last six seasons, with Doan serving as captain from 2003 until last month, when he and the team decided to part ways. But that doesn't hide the fact that the organization is better off without them.
Potential cap implications aside, the pair were liabilities on the ice - both with their best years behind them.
Doan registered his lowest point total in four seasons with a measly 27 in 74 games played last season, while Smith only managed 19 wins and a 2.92 goals-against average during another injury-riddled campaign.
Passing on Doan and moving Smith marked a changing of the guard in Arizona that Coyotes fans should welcome with open arms.
Tocchet's the best man for the job
Few names were mentioned more in the coaching rumor mill this summer than Tocchet's. The former NHLer joined the team following three seasons - and two Stanley Cups - with the Pittsburgh Penguins, with whom he studied and served under Mike Sullivan as an assistant coach.
Aside from his time with the powerhouse Pens, Tocchet's benefit to Arizona is clear.
He has the experience and pedigree to become a successful NHL head coach, but also a familiarity with the organization (Tocchet spent the 2005-06 season as an assistant coach, in addition to playing three years in the desert) that makes his hiring a slam dunk for Chayka and his front-office staff.
If Tocchet can work his magic on youngsters Max Domi, Lawson Crouse, and Jakob Chychrun, to name a few, expect to see the Coyotes back in the playoffs sooner rather than later.
Fixing a club with as many holes in its lineup as Arizona's is no easy task, and, just like any acquisitions in professional sports, the moves the team made have the potential to backfire. At this point, though, there's no doubt the Coyotes are a much improved group, and the NHL's offseason winner so far.
The 23-year-old is coming off his fourth season with the Flyers since being drafted in the first round back in 2012. Laughton, however, suited up in just two games for the Flyers in 2016-17, and instead spent the year with the team's American Hockey League affiliate, the Lehigh Valley Phantoms.
Laughton - who was a restricted free agent - went pointless in his two games with the Flyers last season, but tallied 19 goals and 39 points in 60 games with the Phantoms.
"Mark Recchi will be a tremendous addition to our coaching staff," said general manager Jim Rutherford. "His recent history with the organization, especially with our players and coaches, and his incredible knowledge of the game, will help to ensure a seamless transition. It's only fitting that he starts his NHL coaching career the same year he is inducted into the Hockey Hall of Fame."
Recchi spent the past three seasons as Pittsburgh's player development coach, and was promoted to director of player development. He'll now oversee the team's forwards and work closely with head coach Mike Sullivan on the power play.
Recchi was recently elected to the Hockey Hall of Fame on the strength of a playing career that saw him register 1,533 points in 1,652 games and win five Stanley Cups, including one with the Penguins (1991).
Tocchet becomes the 18th head coach in franchise history, and joins a Coyotes organization that's flush with young talent in need of a fresh voice behind the bench.
"We are very pleased to name Rick as our new head coach," Coyotes general manager John Chayka said in a statement.
"Rick is an excellent coach and a proven winner. While with the Penguins, he won a Stanley Cup as a player and two cups as a coach. He's experienced, knowledgeable and is a great leader and communicator. He's also a former Coyotes player and assistant coach and the perfect fit for us. We're thrilled to have him rejoin our organization."
Chayka went on to say that Tocchet was the best candidate for the job "by a wide margin," according to Craig Morgan of AZ Sports 98.7 FM.
The former NHL player heads to Arizona following three seasons as an assistant coach with the Pittsburgh Penguins, signing a contract that will keep him in the desert for at least the next four years, according to Dan Rosen of NHL.com.
"I'm extremely happy to be back with the Coyotes organization," Tocchet said. "I loved playing and coaching here in the Valley and have always considered Arizona my home. We have a great young team with a ton of talent and I'm excited about leading this group of players. I'd like to thank Mr. (Andrew) Barroway and John Chayka for this incredible opportunity. I can't wait to get started."
The Scarborough, Ontario native previously spent one season as an assistant coach with the Coyotes in 2005-06, and played parts of three campaigns (213 games, 64 goals, 66 assists) with the club between 1997-2000.
Tocchet's hiring comes nearly a month after the team decided to part ways with former bench boss Dave Tippett.
