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Elias Pettersson | #40 | C/LW

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spook007 All-Star

spook007

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29 minutes ago, -AJ- said:

 

Pretty easy to find it on NHL.com. @Wilbur updates his career stats faster than NHL.com and also notes which players are the highest movers up. Here's the current stats of the top 20:

 

image.png

Thanks @-AJ- Didn't know that. Had a quick look, and yes it is actually quite easy indeed.

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Wilbur Franchise Star

Wilbur

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6 hours ago, -AJ- said:

 

Pretty easy to find it on NHL.com. @Wilbur updates his career stats faster than NHL.com and also notes which players are the highest movers up. Here's the current stats of the top 20:

 

image.png

Past comparables fascinate me too.  Like this one:

 

139.  Nils Hoglander RW 143 27 30 57
140.  Robert Kron RW 144 24 33 57

 

eerily similar

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Mrwipeout NHL Grinder

Mrwipeout

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https://www.sportsnet.ca/nhl/article/petterssons-elite-two-way-game-setting-example-for-canucks-teammates/

 

“When you're on his team, you see him laying guys out, winning puck battles, coming back on the back check, catching guys from behind. He's not a loud guy, but when guys see him playing like that and doing all those things -- arguably our best player, a 100-point guy, doing everything he can to win hockey games -- how do you say: 'I'm tired, I'm not going to backcheck?’ Or ‘I'm not going to win this puck battle.’ It's really tough. He's a massive leader on this team.”

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DownUndaCanuck Middle 6

DownUndaCanuck

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I wonder if there's a stat which shows how good a player is production-wise based on the quality of their linemates? Petey is still leading the league in scoring after playing with absolute pylons like Garland, Studnicka and Lafferty who could easily be all AHLers on other teams. Meanwhile Matthews plays with 10M stars and Hughes' linemates are making bank as well.

 

Hope he gets his neck out front at the start of the scoring year to really send a message to the rest of the league and all those reporters who had him outside the top-10 players. Crazy to think he might be one of the best players in the world right now, especially after going right up head-to-head against McDavid.

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Cali Canuck NHL Grinder

Cali Canuck

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The article I post yesterday about JTM was written by Harm Dayal but occasionally Drance does write some nice things about the Canucks as well. Granted it is about Petey but still nice article.  The first half of the article (not included below) talks about the practice in Philly on Monday, RT pushed the boys pretty hard and even though they won Saturday in Edmonton he wanted them to fix some things in their play.

 

source: https://theathletic.com/4968728/2023/10/17/vancouver-canucks-elias-pettersson-rick-tocchet/

 

Pettersson’s strength and physicality
When Elias Pettersson first came into the NHL as a talented young player he was repeatedly asked questions about his weight.

Pettersson absolutely loathed those questions. To him, they carried a sinister implication about whether he belonged in the best league in the world.

Right from the get-go, of course, it was obvious not just that Pettersson belonged in the NHL, but that he had the potential to be a dominant force in this league.

Of late, that potential has been realized. Entering his age-25 season, Pettersson has managed 108 points in his last 82 games. On Monday, he was named the NHL’s second star of the week, wedged between Auston Matthews and Evgeni Malkin. It seems we’re getting close to the apex version of what Pettersson can be in this league.

To understand how he’s reached this point, it helps to know what came before. The younger version of Pettersson was slender, but he wasn’t a small player. He may have relied on his elusiveness, but from day one he was disciplined about going to and setting up shop in the heavy areas of the ice. Even before he had the physical stature to win those battles, he always was willing to pick them.

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Now, Pettersson is winning those battles. Instead of parrying annoying questions about his weight these days, Pettersson is assertively throwing that weight around.


“I feel like I can protect the puck better, win more battles,” Pettersson said on Monday of his evolution as a physical presence. “I’m not getting pushed around as easy.

“I still fall down a little bit,” he added, “But I feel stronger, I have more confidence in battles. I don’t think I’ve been the best at protecting the puck, and now I feel more comfortable, more able to win puck battles.”

This isn’t an uncommon path for a young, extraordinarily skilled forward to take. Henrik and Daniel Sedin, to cite a totally unfair example, contend to this day that they weren’t really able to play their down-low cycle game as reliably as they wanted to until after the 2004-05 lockout when they added the requisite strength.

And the twins will also tell you that it took a few more years beyond that to add the stamina that became their trademark and enabled them to play their signature style consistently.

“Being stronger, it helps, but when it’s game time, I play with rage,” Pettersson later added of his more physical mindset, then thought better of such a dramatic statement. “No, not really,” he demurred.

“Hey, that’s a good headline!” I said, needling him for his habit of ducking questions with a standard ‘I don’t want to give you guys a headline,’ response.

“I know you guys love those,” Pettersson said. “No, but when it’s a battle or I get a chance to hit guys, I’ll do so. I want to be reliable not just with my offence, but with my ability to play the right way.”

Part of that growth in Pettersson’s game, although it’s yet to show up in his overall win rate, appears to be in the faceoff circle.

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Pettersson has opened the regular season with 12 wins off of 27 draws, good for a 44.4 percent win rate that’s right in line with his career norm.

Quietly though, there’ve been signs that his ability to win draws has improved. Pettersson dominated in the circle in the preseason, for example, and even in Vancouver’s first two regular-season games against the Oilers. Pettersson has won more than half of the draws he’s taken in both the defensive zone and the offensive zone, where the outcome is higher leverage. NHL centremen tend to save their most reliable techniques for those situations, and it’s worth noting Pettersson has only won four of 13 draws in the neutral zone in the first two games.

Improving in the faceoff circle has been a preoccupation of Pettersson’s for years. Back on Oct. 15, 2021, nearly two years ago, Pettersson went 0-for-7 in a 5-4 shootout victory for the Canucks over the Flyers. Even though all those losses came against faceoff aces like Derick Brassard, Sean Couturier and Claude Giroux, Pettersson’s inability to win a draw that night stuck in his craw.

After the game, Pettersson was asked by the media about his performance — he had a goal, an assist and a shootout tally in the victory — and after his scrum was finished, he noted to me off to the side, “Thankfully you guys didn’t ask about my faceoffs.” I reminded him of that on Monday after the Canucks practice, in asking him about his work in the circle this offseason.

“I’m self-aware of where I can be better,” Pettersson answered. “And I’m always hard on myself and want to be better. I still have a long ways to go, but I’m trying to improve slowly.

“Starting my Canucks career, I didn’t get that many defensive zone starts, coach didn’t trust me there, but it’s good to get that belief now.”

We’ll see where this goes as the sample expands this season, but Pettersson put in some extra work in this area of the game this summer.

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“Some guys have different style or techniques,” Pettersson said on Monday, “But mostly it just comes down to be first to the puck and have a strong bottom hand. It’s something I’m working hard at and want to be better at.

“(This summer) I watched clips on what I could do better, and what my tendencies are when I lose.”

Even if the data isn’t there yet, Pettersson has looked more confident and imposing in the circle throughout training camp and the preseason. I’d expect a relatively significant improvement in his faceoff win rate — I will be surprised if he doesn’t flirt with a faceoff win rate in the 48-50 percent range — over the course of this season.

Höglander’s “predictable” role
A lot has been made about Nils Höglander opening camp on Vancouver’s top line and then dropping to the fourth line to open the season.

Fourth-line duty, however, suits Höglander just fine. His game is versatile enough that he can play an energy role, something he demonstrated in the win over the Oilers on Saturday.

Höglander’s contributions were essential in that win. The “pint-sized power forward,” as Pettersson has often described him, chipped in with a key first-period go-ahead goal, a deflection from the top of the blue paint. He later added a crucial third-period assist on the game winner, a goal that was scored off a defensive zone turnover that Höglander forced with a solid read to cut off the top and prevent the Oilers from cycling the puck low-to-high.

Fourth-line duty isn’t a banishment for Höglander and he isn’t concerned with where he plays in the lineup. In fact, after contending with two frustrating campaigns under Bruce Boudreau, he’s just looking to carve out some predictability in the Canucks lineup and chip in however he can.

“It’s about having a predictable role,” Höglander said on Monday. “You don’t really learn that much when you’re on the first line one night, on the second line the next night, then on the fourth line the game after that. Last season it was really going down to Abbotsford where I learned a lot.”

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Höglander is slated to skate again on a line with Sam Lafferty and Jack Studnicka on Tuesday night in Philadelphia. All three players are plus skaters with some classic energy-line attributes, and all three scored for Vancouver on Saturday.

It’s a good spot for Höglander for now, and it’s a line that could pay dividends for a Canucks team that’s been desperate for more solidity and speed at the bottom end of their lineup over the past few years.

Soucy’s imminent return, patience on Mikheyev
Carson Soucy is a game-time decision for Tuesday night’s game in Philadelphia. Just from watching him skate at Canucks practice on Monday, it’s clear he’s unencumbered. If he’s not ready to give it a go on Tuesday, then he’s extremely close and will return to the lineup this week.

As well as Vancouver has played, its third pair’s performance hasn’t been as strong to open the season. Soucy’s return will help.

It will also necessitate some paperwork and some difficult roster management logistics.

Once Soucy returns and the Canucks have a full battery of 18 healthy skaters again, they’ll have to terminate the emergency conditions on Studnicka’s loan, and most likely return either Studnicka or Akito Hirose to the American League. One wonders if the Canucks may consider playing with seven defenders on this road trip, given the risk an NHL team takes on in travelling to Florida and Tennessee without an extra defender.

Ilya Mikheyev, meanwhile, skated as an extra at practice on Monday, taking shifts in drills interchangeably as a fourth-line wing and as a fourth-pair right-side defender alongside Hirose.

Tocchet downplayed how close Mikheyev is to returning, noting only that he’s “progressing” and that there’s “a good possibility he’s going to play a game on this road trip.” Watching Mikheyev closely on Monday, it looks like his customary skating burst is going to take a while to return in full as he continues to recover from the surgical procedure he underwent to repair a torn ACL.

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Further patience may be required before Mikheyev returns to the Canucks lineup and to his usual speed-demon form.

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Mackcanuck AHL Star

Mackcanuck

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Great read here Freidmans 32 thoughts

https://www.sportsnet.ca/nhl/article/32-thoughts-nhl-teams-vote-to-decentralize-the-draft/

 

 

9. Can finally write a bit about Elias Pettersson now that our August interview from Stockholm went to air. 

So that’s what we’re looking at. Pettersson, who said during that conversation he hadn’t decided if his next contract would be short-term or long-term, wants to be in a position where he can win, and recognizes doing it in the Lower Mainland would be very special. “If everybody has one mindset and that is to win, I think that's more than enough,” he added.

 

10. Pettersson on Rick Tocchet: “He wants the best for me. He wants me to be more vocal. He wants me to lead the team and just be the best version of myself. So he’s a guy I can go and talk to. He has no ego.”

There’s a reason Tocchet’s very popular in the hockey world, and Pettersson encapsulates it. “I play my best when I'm comfortable. Not stressed. Go out there and do all the things I practice.”

We had a good conversation about shyness. I’ve learned over my life that shyness is not a weakness, just the way some people are wired. And, too often, we mistake shyness (or reticence) to mean someone isn’t willing to compete or be, as he says, “the best version” of themselves. That’s not true, it’s just they don’t like to express themselves in words. Now, that may mean someone can’t be a captain, because being vocal — even if only in private — is part of that job, but it doesn’t mean you can’t lead in your own way.

“I've always been more of a shy person and talking in front of a group hasn't been my thing,” Pettersson said. “I hated schoolwork presentations from class.” He brought up that English is his second language, which makes it more challenging. “It's just always been with me to not mess up in front of a group. I don't know if all the guys would just laugh, but it’s…one of those things that I have never been comfortable (with). But I'm trying, you know? I definitely think I can do better in that and it doesn't have to be a lot.” Right place, right time.

 

11. One thing he’s changed is his training. He’s bulked up, eating 5,000 calories a day. On the boat, he brought his own meal: cabbage, raddish, shrimp, edamame and white rice. There was a sauce too, but he wasn’t sure of the ingredients.

Have you ever eaten like that before? “No,” but he has a new trainer and “got a few muscles. It's almost like I got brainwashed and always want to eat (properly).”

 

12. He wasn’t crazy discussing personal targets. “It's very selfish just talking about me,” he said. “I want to be better every year and I want to become the best player I can be. I know my career's not going to last forever, so I just want to make the most of it.”

That said, after toppling 100 points last season, he admitted 50 goals would be nice. Can you do it? “Yeah, I like to think so. Got to be a little more selfish sometimes. I've always been a pass-first player… (But) I hear a lot, I need to shoot more, so I'll start listening to some people,” he laughed. Gotta hit those empty nets, Elias. (He missed two Tuesday night in Nashville.)

 

13. Finally, it’s very clear he values his relationships with Brock Boeser and Quinn Hughes, in particular. Pettersson’s golf handicap is down to 3.9 and “I always take money from Quinn.” He did admit Boeser is the trio’s best wakeboarder.

 

Edited by Mackcanuck
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Bob Long All-Star

Bob Long

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29 minutes ago, Mackcanuck said:

Great read here Freidmans 32 thoughts

https://www.sportsnet.ca/nhl/article/32-thoughts-nhl-teams-vote-to-decentralize-the-draft/

 

 

9. Can finally write a bit about Elias Pettersson now that our August interview from Stockholm went to air. 

So that’s what we’re looking at. Pettersson, who said during that conversation he hadn’t decided if his next contract would be short-term or long-term, wants to be in a position where he can win, and recognizes doing it in the Lower Mainland would be very special. “If everybody has one mindset and that is to win, I think that's more than enough,” he added.

 

10. Pettersson on Rick Tocchet: “He wants the best for me. He wants me to be more vocal. He wants me to lead the team and just be the best version of myself. So he’s a guy I can go and talk to. He has no ego.”

There’s a reason Tocchet’s very popular in the hockey world, and Pettersson encapsulates it. “I play my best when I'm comfortable. Not stressed. Go out there and do all the things I practice.”

We had a good conversation about shyness. I’ve learned over my life that shyness is not a weakness, just the way some people are wired. And, too often, we mistake shyness (or reticence) to mean someone isn’t willing to compete or be, as he says, “the best version” of themselves. That’s not true, it’s just they don’t like to express themselves in words. Now, that may mean someone can’t be a captain, because being vocal — even if only in private — is part of that job, but it doesn’t mean you can’t lead in your own way.

“I've always been more of a shy person and talking in front of a group hasn't been my thing,” Pettersson said. “I hated schoolwork presentations from class.” He brought up that English is his second language, which makes it more challenging. “It's just always been with me to not mess up in front of a group. I don't know if all the guys would just laugh, but it’s…one of those things that I have never been comfortable (with). But I'm trying, you know? I definitely think I can do better in that and it doesn't have to be a lot.” Right place, right time.

 

11. One thing he’s changed is his training. He’s bulked up, eating 5,000 calories a day. On the boat, he brought his own meal: cabbage, raddish, shrimp, edamame and white rice. There was a sauce too, but he wasn’t sure of the ingredients.

Have you ever eaten like that before? “No,” but he has a new trainer and “got a few muscles. It's almost like I got brainwashed and always want to eat (properly).”

 

12. He wasn’t crazy discussing personal targets. “It's very selfish just talking about me,” he said. “I want to be better every year and I want to become the best player I can be. I know my career's not going to last forever, so I just want to make the most of it.”

That said, after toppling 100 points last season, he admitted 50 goals would be nice. Can you do it? “Yeah, I like to think so. Got to be a little more selfish sometimes. I've always been a pass-first player… (But) I hear a lot, I need to shoot more, so I'll start listening to some people,” he laughed. Gotta hit those empty nets, Elias. (He missed two Tuesday night in Nashville.)

 

13. Finally, it’s very clear he values his relationships with Brock Boeser and Quinn Hughes, in particular. Pettersson’s golf handicap is down to 3.9 and “I always take money from Quinn.” He did admit Boeser is the trio’s best wakeboarder.

 

 

I'm impressed that he describes Tocc as not having an ego with the guys. Seems to be going a long way with Petey.

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-AJ- All-Star

-AJ-

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I took a quick look at Petey's PK numbers and his results are extremely impressive so far. One could argue he's our best PK forward. That, along with a not terrible face-off percentage quite possibly legitimately vaults him into the top 5 or maybe even top 3 in the Selke conversation, up there with Marner and Hischier.

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LillStrimma Middle 6

LillStrimma

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56 minutes ago, AAA said:

Linden: Benning 'wasn't sold' on Pettersson, would have drafted a different player

 

https://www.vancouverisawesome.com/canucks-hockey/linden-benning-wasnt-sold-on-pettersson-would-have-drafted-a-different-player-7806653

 

 

Finally… Can we please stop talking as Benning was a draft God? 
 

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SISMIM Minor Leaguer

SISMIM

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Just noticed that Petey is on pace to finish the season with 100+ hits!

 

That’d be amazing, if he can keep it up.
 

I usually use the 100 hits/82 games as one of the standards for a really noteworthy “physical player.”

 

Which also makes his 0 PIM even more impressive (and also his 4 penalties drawn). 
 

Not many players can manage that level of contact while also keeping themselves out of the penalty box.

 

Not sure if being on pace for 100 hits is gonna help his Lady Byng chances, but it certainly speaks to how much Petey has matured and grown into a complete player who knows how to play a heavy game and physical edge, despite his slight build.

 

Now he just needs to become a faceoff ace and he’ll basically be good at everything. 🥰

Edited by SISMIM
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