Edmonton Oilers general manager Peter Chiarelli said Sunday he elected to send forwards Jesse Puljujarvi and Kailer Yamamoto to the AHL over the weekend to help both players revive their confidence after slow starts at the NHL level.

Puljujarvi, who spent four straight games as a healthy scratch last month, has one goal in 11 games this season, while Yamamoto has just two points in 12 games with the Oilers.

Chiarelli said he expects both players to benefit from having more time with the puck in the AHL.

“I think, broadly speaking, I’d like them to get more touches,” Chiarelli told the Edmonton Sun. “With Jesse, it’s about getting his confidence back. I thought he had a strong camp and it didn’t translate to the start of the season. You could see some of the frustration in his game, but having said that, there was some maturity in his game too, so we just have to build it back up a little bit. It’s a easier to do that down there with more minutes and a little more latitude and margin for error.

“With Yamo, I thought he played pretty well as a complementary player. He was responsible, he supported things without the puck, he was good on the PK. We took him out of the game, he sat a little bit and it was confidence. For him, it’s about finishing, going down there and finishing his opportunities. He did have a lot of opportunities when he was up here and I didn’t want his confidence to struggle either.”

Puljujarvi, 20, is set to begin the third AHL stint of his career since being drafted fourth overall by the Oilers in the 2016 NHL Draft. He has 13 goals and 33 points in 49 career games with the Bakersfield Condors.

“He was disappointed,” Chiarelli said. “We’ve done it each year with him, he was disappointed.”

The general manager said "the book isn't closed" on bringing either back up to the Oilers, though he praised the Condors for developing the team's prospects.

“It’s a luxury to have the two young guys up here,” Chiarelli said. “We had three young guys up here with (rookie defenceman Evan) Bouchard and we sent him back to junior. For now, and certainly the book isn’t closed, they’ll go down and play. They’re doing a great job down there and all the young guys are thriving down there and it’s a good environment, so I’m certainly happy to send them down.”

Puljujarvi will be a restricted free agent at the end of this season.