These kinds of posts are super frustrating. This is what we know about Petan:
- He has produced at a fantastic rate at every single level in the minors (including when the he was with the Moose where his scoring rate was very good for a rookie)
- His numbers when he played with skilled players last season were very good, those skilled players saw a boost in their numbers when playing with Petan
- He was very good in the preseason playing with skilled players
Given points 1, 2 and 3 I think wanting to see Petan play more and with players who are skilled is the most obvious conclusion. Maybe he makes it in the NHL or maybe he does not. Maybe his numbers in the minors can't translate to the NHL. Maybe his good numbers with skilled players were a product of small sample sizes. Maybe his preseaon performance was a mirage. But given that one has to throw in so many maybes to downplay Petan then perhaps it warrants him getting an extended look so that those maybes can be proven one way or the other.
Petan is Winnipeg Jets property for the next 5 years. Given that he has shown, him succeeding can only be good for the Jets. What I don't "get" is why some are so willing to write off a player who could help the Jets big time. What do the Jets have to lose? I mean it's not like the guys that play ahead of him are lighting the world on fire
Give Petan atleast ~14 minutes a night including PP time. Play him with players of some level of skill (a Perreault - Petan - Dano type line). Let that experiment ride out for atleast ~25 games. Then you start to fairly evaluate what you have in Petan. Hot takes based on one game or speculation based on perceived bias for smaller players are not going to convince many people
You are welcome to be frustrated all you want. I am not against Petan, to the contrary. I want him to succeed, he's a Jet.
What I'm not interested in is giving the guy special treatment. All young Jets before him had to work their way up the lineup, and prove their worth. Yes, their stats suffered while they were with 'anchors' but they found a way to earn more icetime and a bigger role with other players who earned the right to play on the top lines.
Why in holy hell should Nic Petan be treated any differently than thousands of other rookies before him in the NHL (and other leagues)?
He will either rise to the top a la Ehlers, Laine, Scheifele, or he will fade away like players like Machacek, Burmistrov, and hundreds of others.
That is what happens when you play in the best league on the planet in your sport.
Sure, there are players who are held back on teams because of strong lineups ahead of them. These players often find a career resurgence elsewhere. They also prove that they just weren't good enough, or become serviceable tweeners. The REALLY smart ones reinvent themselves and play a role on the team they are on that that team needs.
Nic Petan will either:
- Play well enough where and when given an opportunity here to move up the lineup
- Get traded and find a home in a weaker team's top 6
- Mold himself into a different player and have success here (or elsewhere)
- Or prove he does not belong in this league.
I do not think number one happens here. I don't think he is better than anyone in our top 6 and furthermore I think there are others in the org not in the top 6 who are better.
I am frustrated with people who think he somehow deserves special treatment. He is a fringe NHL'er at best at this point. Will he prove me wrong? Perhaps but the start of this season isn't looking like anything different from the diminutive one. PS I am not against small players. Ehlers, Little, Perreault, Enstrom - I never knock them for size. Hell I'd love a Martin St. Louis or Gaudreau on this team.