Not sure if any of you have seen this. Darren Haynes on Twitter on Jacob Pelletier's game last night.
Ten weeks ago today, Jakob Pelletier’s time with the Flames was at risk of being over when he was placed on waivers by Calgary.
A first-rounder in 2019, just 23, nearly a point-per-game player in the AHL, and left in the NHL’s equivalent of the 'free' box at a garage sale.
But all 31 teams passed on the Quebec native, and Saturday night, in his most impactful NHL game in the past two seasons and arguably of his career, he provided a snapshot of the valuable middle-six player he potentially can be and the Flames could use.
The continued struggles of a now-injured Andrei Kuzmenko opened a spot in the top nine, and what an impressive audition Pelletier had in his first opportunity this season to play higher than the fourth line.
Playing right wing with Yegor Sharangovich and his roommate for two years, Connor Zary, Pelletier showed on Saturday that yes, indeed, he can make a difference at hockey’s highest level.
En route to playing 13:18, the most ice time he’s logged in an NHL game the past two seasons, Pelletier was especially noticeable in the first period.
In particular, he packed a little bit of everything into an impressive 28-second shift halfway through the opening period in which he showcased his upside and the impact he is capable of.
- The shift, which starts at 10:24, begins with a chip into the Florida corner in which the 5-foot-9, 170-pounder brushes aside Aaron Ekblad, sending the 6-foot-4, 220-pound blueliner spinning to the ice, enabling him to get to the puck first and begin a stretch of offensive zone pressure.
- With Calgary still in possession, Pelletier again finds himself up against Ekblad, battling for that precious ice just outside the top of the blue paint of Spencer Knight’s crease. As the two jostle, Pelletier not looking like a guy who gives away seven inches and 50 pounds in this tale of the tape, provides an effective screen as Sharangovich deflects Jake Bean’s shot toward the net.
- With the puck initially caught up in Ekblad’s equipment, when it drops to the ice in front, Pelletier exhibits lightning-quick hands, quickly corralling it, and in one backhand-to-forehand motion, zipping a dangerous shot on net that Knight gets his right pad on.
- When Florida finally gets possession of the puck and breaks out of their end, Pelletier pumps his legs and chases down puck carrier Mackie Samoskevich, then with a textbook angle, he rubs him out along the sideboards, popping the puck free where it the Flames recover it and go back on the attack again.
“I liked Jacob tonight,” said coach Ryan Huska post-game. “I thought he moved his feet. I thought he was engaged physically tonight, which is important for him. I thought he had a real effective night.”
No kidding!
But wait, there’s more.
While the sample size is tiny, Pelletier has also got off to a good start as he auditions to be a regular on what’s been a woeful penalty kill this season.
After the club’s PK gave up three goals on three chances in Thursday’s 8-3 blowout loss to Tampa Bay — while Pelletier looked on from the press box — Saturday in his return to the line-up, Calgary was a perfect three for three with Pelletier forming a solid shorthanded pairing up front with Blake Coleman. Two of those kills came late in the first and into the second with the Flames’ 1-0 lead in jeopardy.
I asked Huska last night about the penalty kill and if he sees that as an opportunity for Pelletier to carve himself a niche.
“100 percent,” Huska responded without hesitation. “For Walker Duehr as well. There is a chance for those guys to continue to try to find or grab hold of something that allows them to feel like hey, I bring some more value to the table.
“I think that's why our power play has gotten much better lately, as guys feel like hey, this is something that makes a difference in a game. I think our penalty kill has struggled a little bit because we haven't had enough guys grab hold of it like this is my thing. So, we're hopeful that he'll continue to run with that.”
In his first 41 career NHL games, Pelletier never got a sniff on the PK. But three games into this opportunity, so far, so good, as he has yet to be on the ice for a PP goal against.
That perfect record only consists of a combined five minutes of 4-on-5 time, but in just over four combined minutes of PK time without him on Thursday, the team gave up three goals. So, it is not insignificant and has to be a great confidence booster for the young man.
As the Flames focus on getting younger and providing opportunities for their kids to play, this is a guy whose development must continue to be an organizational priority.
He has proven in the minors that he can chip in offensively with 130 points (51 goals, 79 assists) in 139 AHL games over four seasons.
There’s never been any question about the character and positivity he oozes, and you’re seeing the intangible value that can have with Ryan Lomberg.
Less than two weeks away from the start of the World Juniors, that event serves as another reminder of Pelletier's make-up. Four years ago, after Canada’s crushing 2-0 loss to the Americans in the gold-medal game, Pelletier went around the ice and hugged each of his teammates.
Crushing losses, oh there’s still more of those to come in Calgary as the club continues its rebuild, or re-whatever. If, along the way, Pelletier can cement himself a middle-six role while also emerging as a reliable penalty killer, there is a spot for that.
If anybody knows the impact a player wearing No. 22 — and cut out of the same fabric off the ice — can have on a lunch bucket team lean on star talent, it’s Craig Conroy.
No doubt the Flames GM is hopeful he’ll never have to risk putting Pelletier on waivers again. Next time, the club may not be so lucky.
Admittedly, I've watched the sequels partly cause there was no Chris Tucker and partly cause it didn't have the low budget appeal.
