Prospect Info: Canucks select D Elias Pettersson , 3rd Round, 80th Overall, 2022

[Jyrki21]

Carolina is going to have to acquire the Swedish Sebastian Aho if they want to keep up.

 

[iceburg]

Watched D-Petey live last night then went through every one of his shifts this morning. A few things jumped out at me:
-good mobility and speed
-strong in one-on-one battles
-confident moving the puck
- quick and solid decision making
-positionally strong

I was impressed by all of this particularly the decision making. He quickly moved the puck - either passing or carrying it out of the zone. He knew when to pinch and when to hold back. He supported the offensive play without putting himself in vulnerable situations.

Overall he had a strong first game. Now, he was sheltered a little bit. e.g. He didn't have a shift in the last 7 or 8 minutes. At times you could also see that the speed was new to him.

This is a guy that could be a serious contributor, particularly if he is brought in at a rate that requires him to stretch his own limits but not at a rate that would cause him to be overwhelmed.

 

[MS]

He just looks like an NHL player. Skating and puck skills look to have leveled up.

 

[WTG]

He played less than 11 minutes, let's hold off on any judgement

 

[iceburg]

He played less than 11 minutes, let's hold off on any judgement

Did you watch those 11 minutes? He had a solid debut in sheltered minutes.
Nobody has said he’s made it. He is showing encouraging signs.

 

[WTG]

Did you watch those 11 minutes? He had a solid debut in sheltered minutes.
Nobody has said he’s made it. He is showing encouraging signs.

Yes, I went back and I watched. He looked okay, but that doesn't mean he is ready yet. Numbers test, he was on for 8 scoring chances against in 10:37. Best to reserve judgement till he plays an actual game without riding pine for most of the game.

 

[arttk]

Man, if he works out as a 3-5 D-man it will be a massive win for us.
Even if we have to write off this season, knowing we have this piece of our defence puzzle in place will make a re-fit much easier to do.

Feels like D Petey and Willander is the main reason why management decided to go short term on D this last off season.

 

[arttk]

Yes, I went back and I watched. He looked okay, but that doesn't mean he is ready yet. Numbers test, he was on for 8 scoring chances against in 10:37. Best to reserve judgement till he plays an actual game without riding pine for most of the game.

Yeah he was also playing with “I can’t clear the puck again” Desharnais

 

[ProviesGhost]

He played less than 11 minutes, let's hold off on any judgement

screw it, we need some good news, I say he's READY

 

[Hansen]

He played a good first game

He brings a physicality and bite on the back end that we sorely need. I would much rather have him than any of the goombas we've currently got in the bottom mix.

 

[iceburg]

Yes, I went back and I watched. He looked okay, but that doesn't mean he is ready yet. Numbers test, he was on for 8 scoring chances against in 10:37. Best to reserve judgement till he plays an actual game without riding pine for most of the game.

So, you don't think his debut was anything special...understood.
It, together with his AHL allstar season, was enough to get me excited about his potential but I guess we disagree.

 

[Blue and Green]

Size and mobility are obvious, and he's got a decent brain, but still some learning to do and skills to polish before he's ready. Give him a few games to get his feet wet, find out what the league is like, then back to Abbotsford.

 

[iceburg]

Size and mobility are obvious, and he's got a decent brain, but still some learning to do and skills to polish before he's ready. Give him a few games to get his feet wet, find out what the league is like, then back to Abbotsford.

Sensible strategy.

 

[arttk]

Size and mobility are obvious, and he's got a decent brain, but still some learning to do and skills to polish before he's ready. Give him a few games to get his feet wet, find out what the league is like, then back to Abbotsford.

Yeah that will be the proper way to develop him. Unless he smashes his minutes and can play like 15-16 minutes and somehow make Desharnais not god awful then we won’t have a choice but to play him.

 

[sting101]

I'm with Cam Robinson and have been for awhile. I think he's gonna be a top4 shut down defender.
Was at the Caps game and echo everything said above by Iceberg. Was some impressive tools on display and smarts. Obviously a big step and some timing chemistry systems things still to get more comfortable with.
Just gotta keep him on the right path

 

[WTG]

So, you don't think his debut was anything special...understood.
It, together with his AHL allstar season, was enough to get me excited about his potential but I guess we disagree.

Woooow, don't get ahead of yourself there. I never said anything about the lack of potential. I've been watching the AHL games and watching him play plenty. He's got a ton of upside, but in less than 11 minutes of icetime it's hard to make a judgement saying he's "ready."

If he plays well tomorrow and gets ~14 minutes then you have more than just a few shifts to judge if he can handle the NHL on.

 

[iceburg]

Woooow, don't get ahead of yourself there. I never said anything about the lack of potential. I've been watching the AHL games and watching him play plenty. He's got a ton of upside, but in less than 11 minutes of icetime it's hard to make a judgement saying he's "ready."

If he plays well tomorrow and gets ~14 minutes then you have more than just a few shifts to judge if he can handle the NHL on.

So, hopefully to wrap this up, I understand you think I'm reading too much into the first game. For the record, my conclusion was that it was a strong first game albeit in sheltered minutes. And that they have to bring him along at a rate that doesn't overwhelm him. Nothing in that statement says he's ready.

 

[MS]

He played less than 11 minutes, let's hold off on any judgement

Yes, I went back and I watched. He looked okay, but that doesn't mean he is ready yet. Numbers test, he was on for 8 scoring chances against in 10:37. Best to reserve judgement till he plays an actual game without riding pine for most of the game.

Woooow, don't get ahead of yourself there. I never said anything about the lack of potential. I've been watching the AHL games and watching him play plenty. He's got a ton of upside, but in less than 11 minutes of icetime it's hard to make a judgement saying he's "ready."

If he plays well tomorrow and gets ~14 minutes then you have more than just a few shifts to judge if he can handle the NHL on.

Other than one sarcastic post, I don't think anyone is saying 'he's ready'.

The point is that this was a guy the past few years who had obvious strengths in terms of size/physicality/defensive play at lower levels in Sweden but the question was what his puck skills/skating would allow his upside to be.

And now, at age 20, he's doing things like the highlight in post #372 and is able to effortlessly skate the puck end-to-end on one of his first NHL shifts.

In terms of 'did he actually play effectively?' in his first NHL game ... meh. You could see at times in contained coverage he was a bit overly tentative/conservative and worried about making a mistake. He made a couple ambitious passes that went for icings. But in terms of 'is this guy going to be an NHL player, soon?' ... hell yeah. When you have a bone-crunching 6'4 D who can skate and push the puck forward like that, he's overwhelmingly likely to be an NHL player. And probably a pretty bloody good one, at that.

 

[VanJack]

I'm not sure he'll ever be much of an offensive threat.....but it's so refreshing to see a young d-man who actually skate and play some physicality.

 

[Bubbles]

I haven't been this confused since Greg Adams and Greg Adams played here.

 

[rypper]

I haven't been this confused since Greg Adams and Greg Adams played here.

Me too.