Elias Pettersson | #40 | C

[Kootenay Gold]

12 minutes ago, higgyfan said:

It also appears that Guddy is playing like he wants to redeem himself.  He is a key player for the Canuck's physical game this season.  Fingers crossed that he stays healthy.

If Guddy and Tanev can both play free of any major injuries and Hutton plays the way he did two years ago; the upcoming season will be an improved one from the disaster we saw on the back end last year. On a positive note; we have a couple of bonafide players in the "A" that are better equipped to come up and fill in this year if injuries do occur.

[Rollieo Del Fuego]

8 hours ago, The 5th Line said:

He is verrryy slight and I don't know if he is quite quick enough to avoid all the contact quite yet, but maybe he will learn quickly over the next few games.  I worry about his safety out there just like when we played McCann as a 19 year old, he was skin and bone and should not of been anywhere near an NHL club at the time.  

2 games so far and no-one has come close to hitting him...

[Bigturk8]

4 minutes ago, Rollieo Del Fuego said:

2 games so far and no-one has come close to hitting him...

He got roughed up a bit against LA, but it didn't seem to phase him which is great. He's elusive and is able to avoid big hits for the most part, but he will be targeted. As long as he can keep his head up and avoid the big hits, he'll be fine.

[Attila Umbrus]

3 minutes ago, Rollieo Del Fuego said:

2 games so far and no-one has come close to hitting him...

He is shifty that is for sure. His defensive awareness is almost Datsyukian like. Datsyuk didn't rely on size and strenght but smarts. He had some amazing ways of taking pucks away from his opponents. EP has that kind of defensive sneakyness to him. He finds ways to intercept and take away the puck that most wouldn't dare or even think of. I really like what i'm seeing.

[Locke Lamora]

14 hours ago, cory40 said:

I doubt EP struggles this year. I do think The Canucks as a team will struggle with his talents and being ready for what EP can dish and take.

At the end of the year, assuming he avoids injuries, I highly doubt anyone of us will look back on EP’s year and label it as a “struggle” in totality. Just too much talent.

 

But do you not allow for the fact that he might struggle with certain aspects within the game in his first season? In particular the physicality of 5 on 5 play? 

[PuckYa]

12 minutes ago, Bigturk8 said:

He got roughed up a bit against LA, but it didn't seem to phase him which is great. He's elusive and is able to avoid big hits for the most part, but he will be targeted. As long as he can keep his head up and avoid the big hits, he'll be fine.

Kane, Gudreau, St.Louis, McDavid, Marner, Datsyuk, Yzerman, Sakic, Ronning, Barzal, etc., etc...

All these players have had guys trying to hit them at every level they played. Not as easy as one would think to catch an Elite player with there head down. Pettersson will be just fine...

 

 

9 minutes ago, Attila Umbrus said:

He is shifty that is for sure. His defensive awareness is almost Datsyukian like. Datsyuk didn't rely on size and strenght but smarts. He had some amazing ways of taking pucks away from his opponents. EP has that kind of defensive sneakyness to him. He finds ways to intercept and take away the puck that most wouldn't dare or even think of. I really like what i'm seeing.

I've been comparing him to Datsyuk the 1st time I seen video of this whiz kid.

[Bigturk8]

6 minutes ago, CoolCanucklehead said:

Kane, Gudreau, St.Louis, McDavid, Marner, Datsyuk, Yzerman, Sakic, Ronning, Barzal, etc., etc...

All these players have had guys trying to hit them at every level they played. Not as easy as one would think to catch an Elite player with there head down. Pettersson will be just fine...

That's pretty much what I was trying to say.

[Kanukfanatic]

15 hours ago, The Great 8 said:

I like the idea of splitting Horvat and the snipers but I think the lines would generate more offence if it was

 

Baerstchi-Horvat-Goldobin

Pettersson-Gaudette-Boeser

IMO Gaudette has not shown enough to stick in the NHL yet. Maybe he does need some AHL time. Still early though.

[The Lock]

1 hour ago, Bigturk8 said:

He got roughed up a bit against LA, but it didn't seem to phase him which is great. He's elusive and is able to avoid big hits for the most part, but he will be targeted. As long as he can keep his head up and avoid the big hits, he'll be fine.

So when Virtanen mauled down McDavid, did it really make much of a difference in the end or is McDavid still winning trophies after the fact?

 

There are so many players like Pettersson in this league that I really don't think it will be that big of an issue. I can see why some people are worried, but I also think it's overthinking just a tad when there are just too many example of players who are similar.

 

If anything, I would argue that it's the players that hit and play hard games that tend to end their careers sooner, sometimes much sooner....

Edited September 22, 2018 by The Lock

[Bigturk8]

6 minutes ago, The Lock said:

So when Virtanen mauled down McDavid, did it really make much of a difference in the end or is McDavid still winning trophies after the fact?

 

There are so many players like Pettersson in this league that I really don't think it will be that big of an issue. I can see why some people are worried, but I also think it's overthinking just a tad when there are just too many example of players who are similar.

 

If anything, I would argue that it's the players that hit and play hard games that tend to end their careers sooner, sometimes much sooner....

To be clear, I wasn't suggesting that he was in trouble, but rather that he had the tools to cope with the physical game. The tools in question being elusiveness and resilience.

[The Lock]

Just now, Bigturk8 said:

To be clear, I wasn't suggesting that he was in trouble, but rather that he had the tools to cope with the physical game. The tools in question being elusiveness and resilience.

I know.  I was agreeing with you.

[rekker]

2 hours ago, CoolCanucklehead said:

Kane, Gudreau, St.Louis, McDavid, Marner, Datsyuk, Yzerman, Sakic, Ronning, Barzal, etc., etc...

All these players have had guys trying to hit them at every level they played. Not as easy as one would think to catch an Elite player with there head down. Pettersson will be just fine...

 

 

I've been comparing him to Datsyuk the 1st time I seen video of this whiz kid.

I agree with all this in the offensive zone. He is elusive and keeps his wits about him. Defensively though he has a ways to go with how to use his body to get a piece of the opponant when needed. Faceoffs may be a challenge as well. I hope they just give him the time to try to work it out. So we get some goals against out there this year with EP out there. Does it matter in the end? I dont see playoffs this year so a good year to let him grow at center. If he can just play even at center 5 on 5 and have success on the PP I would consider it a great first year.  

[Phat Fingers]

12 hours ago, The 5th Line said:

He is verrryy slight and I don't know if he is quite quick enough to avoid all the contact quite yet, but maybe he will learn quickly over the next few games.  I worry about his safety out there just like when we played McCann as a 19 year old, he was skin and bone and should not of been anywhere near an NHL club at the time.  

His head seems to be on a swivel. The kid has a knack for seeing the ice around him. He looks to be a hard guy to stick with a hit. It will happen, bound too, but the message the team sends in response has to loud and clear. Run our guys and we will make you pay in kind, leave our guys alone and we do the same. 

 

The sedin era is over, turning the other cheek cannot happen again. Head hunters and dirty players might have to think twice with a team that has push back. I am sure this has been talked about inside the locker room.  

[The Lock]

4 minutes ago, The 5th Line said:

I've seen him get knocked over more than a few times, particularly off the faceoff and along the boards in the D-zone.  And yeah 2 pre-season games, but we have an 82 game reg season coming up, it's a grind.  It's just an observation, anyways, I still need a bigger sample size

To be fair, this is exactly why we signed Roussel, Beagle, and Schaller.

[cyoung]

8 minutes ago, The 5th Line said:

I've seen him get knocked over more than a few times, particularly off the faceoff and along the boards in the D-zone.  And yeah 2 pre-season games, but we have an 82 game reg season coming up, it's a grind.  It's just an observation, anyways, I still need a bigger sample size

Getting knocked over isn't slowing him down much so far. It'll only push him to grind harder in the gym. 

[Lancaster]

Elias Pettersson - "The man who floats like a lepidoptera and stings like a hymenoptera!"

[cory40]

6 hours ago, Locke Lamora said:

At the end of the year, assuming he avoids injuries, I highly doubt anyone of us will look back on EP’s year and label it as a “struggle” in totality. Just too much talent.

 

But do you not allow for the fact that he might struggle with certain aspects within the game in his first season? In particular the physicality of 5 on 5 play? 

I think Gretzky struggled his entire career with that but found ways to make teams pay. He was known for whining to a heavy degree and that often swayed the officiating. EP has his own style and being knocked down is not something necessarily that will disappear but he will learn to avoid areas and players but at the same time will put up points. Great players Like McDavid do struggle,like last year McDavid failed to put up points when the games mattered but still got 100 points, I bet EP has similar struggles and learning to get points when games matter versus taking the points later in the year when your team is all but golfing. We will see. 

[Lancaster]

Elias Pettersson kind of reminds me a bit of Pavol Demitra in his prime.  A jack-of-all-trades kind of forward.  Centre, winger, on the point on the PP, good slap shot, accurate wrist shot, great vision and great passing.  Terrific hands and more than willing to do those trick plays that most players won't attempt.  

 

I still think Pettersson will be even better (even to be fair, Demitra was probably a B+ type player during his heyday).  

 

 

[Kushman]

I think I'm understanding why he's called   "Alien". He's been sent here from a hockey universe and he gets better and better with every game as he reads and learns our primitive human ways, adjusting his own to unworldly levels.

 

Swedish hockey robocop sent to raise us a cup one day.

[smokes]

5 hours ago, The 5th Line said:

I've seen him get knocked over more than a few times, particularly off the faceoff and along the boards in the D-zone.  And yeah 2 pre-season games, but we have an 82 game reg season coming up, it's a grind.  It's just an observation, anyways, I still need a bigger sample size

Getting knocked over isn't too much of a concern. The Sedins were knocked around like bowling pins their first couple of years here. He'll fight through that, the last few games he looked more pissed of at himself on his mistakes than anyone else. So I'm sure he'll fix that. The difference with this kid though is that he's like a slippery fish with and without the pick. In the past couple of games, I've seen checkers lining him up to steal the puck or unleash a hit and Elias somehow gets away. The guy is cool as ice while doing it too, no nervousness, just keeps going like it's nothing. You can't teach that or coach that. Once the grind of the season is on, I am sure he's find other ways to slip away from opponents.

Edited September 23, 2018 by smokes