Early Impressions: Marcus Pettersson

[Jaded-Fan]

It is an unfortunate side effect of the trade. There will be performance comparisons involving Sprong because he's who went the other way in the trade. As long as it's actually relevant and and doesn't devolve it will be allowed. With that said, it is the Pettersson thread and he should be the main topic of discussion, so if folks really feel the need to keep the Sprong talk going someone should start another Sprong thread.

Errey was especially upset with the trade because he will never be able to spell Pettersson and he had just learned how to spell he who shall not be named.

On the other hand with his reach the double entendre potential is unlimited.

 

[Gurglesons]

I made a Sprong thread so we can keep this outta this thread about my main boy MP.

 

[DegenX]

I made a Sprong thread so we can keep this outta this thread about my main boy MP.

Sorry, but in the process of cleaning up this thread you lost ownership of it. I'm also going to say, and this is not pointed specifically at you but to everyone ... I'm really tired of some of you insisting on stirring up a pot of shit and seeing who you can get to lick the spoon. There is a fine line between kidding and trolling. Make sure you're on the right side of the line.

 

[Gurglesons]

Sorry, but in the process of cleaning up this thread you lost ownership of it. I'm also going to say, and this is not pointed specifically at you but to everyone ... I'm really tired of some of you insisting on stirring up a pot of **** and seeing who you can get to lick the spoon. There is a fine line between kidding and trolling. Make sure you're on the right side of the line.

I'm just upset you changed the thread name

 

[DegenX]

I'm just upset you changed the thread name

You mean the one where you were taking a 'light-hearted' poke at a fellow stan?

 

[Gurglesons]

You mean the one where you were taking a 'light-hearted' poke at a fellow stan?

I love Warm Cookies. We agree like 95% of the time when it isn't concerning Sprong or Letang!

 

[Peat]

I read that website daily and saw that but also disagree with much of the premise. Many games Pettersson was on the ice when the Pens has a ton of shots for the game and hardly any for the other team. Also what exactly is the high danger number for and against with him on the ice. The article didn’t post those. They have an agenda on that site about Johnson hatred so they put down what has been a great pairing.

While I fully agree that Hooks Orpik has a big bias against Johnson that he lets run, and he could have posted other stats that show the pairing doing well (HDCF: 47, HDCA: 40; Petterson alone - HDCF - 12; HDCA 10), the basic premise that the goaltending is unsustainably good is accurate. And Petterson/Johnson has a SF% of 46.43, so the games where the Pens heavily outshoot the opposition with that pairing on must be in the minority.

 

[WayneSid9987]

One caveat that I saw pointed out is that Pettersson has been lucky in one sense since arriving in Pittsburgh wish some unsustainable stats.



Revisiting the Marcus Pettersson for Daniel Sprong trade

Pettersson has only been on the ice for four goals in 15 games since coming to the Pens, and the Pens have had the best record in hockey during that time.

Yes, he has looked great, but the Pens have had magnificent goaltending despite giving up a boatload of high danger shots. You would want those to be cut down significantly while he is on the ice. Again, that is not all on him, but still, that many high danger shots are not going to keep ending up out of the back of the net at a 96% rate.

The boatload of dangerous shots thing is a team wide problem. Even Dumo-Tanger haven't been so hot lately in that regard and MP-JJ has looked the better pairing in some games albeit vs lesser QoC but still...

What i see on the ice isn't JUST the goaltending saving MP's bacon. He's playing really well with the role he has and with the partner he has.

 

[Peat]

The boatload of dangerous shots thing is a team wide problem. Even Dumo-Tanger haven't been so hot lately in that regard and MP-JJ has looked the better pairing in some games albeit vs lesser QoC but still...

What i see on the ice isn't JUST the goaltending saving MP's bacon. He's playing really well with the role he has and with the partner he has.

This roster and style are always going to be the wrong side of the averages when it comes to preventing dangerous shots. Yes, we want to keep HDCA below 10 p/60 and SCA at around 25 p/60, the defence has to play a part, but the roster and style is built around inflicting more punishment than we take and relying on goaltending to bail us.

 

[HandshakeLine]

Sorry, but in the process of cleaning up this thread you lost ownership of it. I'm also going to say, and this is not pointed specifically at you but to everyone ... I'm really tired of some of you insisting on stirring up a pot of **** and seeing who you can get to lick the spoon. There is a fine line between kidding and trolling. Make sure you're on the right side of the line.

If this is about the brownies, I swear to god, I didn't know they were for Grandma's birthday

 

[Jaded-Fan]

The boatload of dangerous shots thing is a team wide problem. Even Dumo-Tanger haven't been so hot lately in that regard and MP-JJ has looked the better pairing in some games albeit vs lesser QoC but still...

What i see on the ice isn't JUST the goaltending saving MP's bacon. He's playing really well with the role he has and with the partner he has.

No doubt. I am simply pointing out that keeping 96% of high danger shots out of the net is simply an unsustainable statistic and either will need to be addressed or his numbers will stop looking quite as good as they have defensively.

Obviously the same can be said for the rest of the team, but he is the subject of this thread and if we are going to look at his numbers that thought needs to be part of the discussion.

 

[ImporterExporter]

Petterson has been a steady rock thus far. He's never going to blow you away offensively and honestly I don't care. In the age of fantasy sports, betting, etc, everyone forgets what the true nature of playing D is supposed to mean. First and foremost you need to be able to actually play defense. Know positional hockey. Understand angles.

He isn't overly physical but the scouting report coming in was that he was soft. I don't see that at all. And honestly, it doesn't really matter in today's game anyway. He understands he's a big player and uses his reach/stick to get the puck out of danger. I don't see him out of position that much. He generally makes a crisp outlet pass and to areas that aren't going to give the other team great scoring chances.

If you really understand the game, he's a player that you should really like. Especially considering he's only 22 years old. Dmen generally peak later than F's so I don't think we've seen the pinnacle with him yet either. I don't expect a ton of offense but on this team we don't need that anyway. We need the younger players to play above their age. Petterson does that.

 

[The Old Master]

He isn't overly physical but the scouting report coming in was that he was soft. I don't see that at all.

a lot of that could be because of how skinny he is/was. imo and that should change as he puts on some weight.

 

[MartinS82]

Some interesting stuff here, including Pettersson only switched to D at 16.

Getting to Know Marcus Pettersson, 38 Overall

 

[td_ice]

Some interesting stuff here, including Pettersson only switched to D at 16.

Getting to Know Marcus Pettersson, 38 Overall

Good stuff.

Thanks for posting that.

 

[Tender Rip]

I love Warm Cookies. We agree like 95% of the time when it isn't concerning Sprong or Letang!

That Soggy Bisquet guy seems a bit of a lame-o though....

 

[CrosbyMalkin]

Pettersson’s last 5 games have been another level. 5 games 6 points +10. That is impressive for any defenseman let alone a 22 year old rookie. He is a gem!

 

[Anaheim4ever]

Petterssen also illustrates how bad of a defensive system his previous team had.
I guess you'll be buying Dmen from us in the future

 

[Turin]

Some interesting stuff here, including Pettersson only switched to D at 16.

Getting to Know Marcus Pettersson, 38 Overall

I love getting players who I know nothing about and them being so solid. I’d love to know the scouting process on this guy from Pittsburgh.

 

[WayneSid9987]

I love getting players who I know nothing about and them being so solid. I’d love to know the scouting process on this guy from Pittsburgh.

After the deal, i watched his games.
Pretty easy to see what they saw.
Our director of Amateur Scouting(Allvin) who scouted Sweden before being promoted probably knew alot about him as well.

 

[cygnus47]

I'd like to see Pettersson with a better partner. We have a surprisingly good D group if we're willing to sit Johnson and Oleksiak/Maatta when we're healthy and play Riikola.

 

[CrosbyMalkin]

Petterson has been a steady rock thus far. He's never going to blow you away offensively and honestly I don't care. In the age of fantasy sports, betting, etc, everyone forgets what the true nature of playing D is supposed to mean. First and foremost you need to be able to actually play defense. Know positional hockey. Understand angles.

He isn't overly physical but the scouting report coming in was that he was soft. I don't see that at all. And honestly, it doesn't really matter in today's game anyway. He understands he's a big player and uses his reach/stick to get the puck out of danger. I don't see him out of position that much. He generally makes a crisp outlet pass and to areas that aren't going to give the other team great scoring chances.

If you really understand the game, he's a player that you should really like. Especially considering he's only 22 years old. Dmen generally peak later than F's so I don't think we've seen the pinnacle with him yet either. I don't expect a ton of offense but on this team we don't need that anyway. We need the younger players to play above their age. Petterson does that.

Of course he is not close to peaking yet. Pettersson is a 22 year old rookie with only 68 total NHL games played. Although when you watch his game he doesn’t really need to improve in anything at this point to be a top 4 defenseman. His defensive game is advanced and I am really surprised how good he is handling forwards with his light weight of 177 pounds. If he can even build up to 190 pounds I would love to see how that helps his game because I don’t see him getting pushed around even now.

Pettersson is on an impossible pace at the moment both offensively and defensively. but without even looking at his production rate you can see he is a top 4 two way defenseman even now. Over the last 5 games he has really started jumping into the play while still playing a responsible defensive game. Obviously no defenseman in the NHL keeps the pace he is on now 5 games 6 points and +10 but he really needs no development to prove he is a top 4 defenseman with 30+ point ability.

Also the Johnson-Pettersson pairing is starting to take over the 2nd pairing duties with them being the 3rd and 4th most minutes. Johnson has consistently been getting top 4 minutes and more and more top 3 minutes lately. With Schultz coming back any day now this is about to get interesting although I bet it goes Maatta-Schultz. Love to watch how the minutes goes 5v5 at that point. Will it be something like 25 Letang, 21 Dumo, and about 18 minutes and change for the other 4? The trend at the moment is when Oleksiak plays Maatta becomes on the 3rd pairing responsibilities.

 

[Empoleon8771]

I'd like to see Pettersson with a better partner. We have a surprisingly good D group if we're willing to sit Johnson and Oleksiak/Maatta when we're healthy and play Riikola.

Should I even bother? Johnson has been really solid since getting paired with Pettersson, the pair is absolutelt excellent right now. Why should the Penguins break that up?

It's just old to **** on Johnson at this point. He has settled in to being a fine player for the Penguins. Since getting paired with Pettersson, he has played like a fringe #4/5 who is physical, can skate well and move the puck decently well. He has basically played like what Ian Cole was for the Penguins over the last 20 games.

 

[CrosbyMalkin]

I'd like to see Pettersson with a better partner. We have a surprisingly good D group if we're willing to sit Johnson and Oleksiak/Maatta when we're healthy and play Riikola.

I think Riikola will have to wait his chance due to injury or trade. With Schultz coming back any day now I think you will see a heavy dose of this.

Dumoulin-Letang
Maatta-Schultz
Pettersson-Johnson

I am fine with this also because as long as the Pettersson-Johnson pairing is being productive I don’t want it touched. Johnson since the pairing was put together is a +10 in 19 games playing top 4 minutes and in fact top 3 minutes on many of those nights. Pettersson has been even more productive but with less minutes and he is not Letang so I don’t believe he would be anymore productive with another defenseman. Pettersson has just put up 6 points and a +10 in his last 5 games. I think he is not being held back.

 

[Mr Jiggyfly]

Should I even bother? Johnson has been really solid since getting paired with Pettersson, the pair is absolutelt excellent right now. Why should the Penguins break that up?

It's just old to **** on Johnson at this point. He has settled in to being a fine player for the Penguins. Since getting paired with Pettersson, he has played like a fringe #4/5 who is physical, can skate well and move the puck decently well. He has basically played like what Ian Cole was for the Penguins over the last 20 games.

A lot of people stand to look silly if JJ plays solid hockey for the Pens, so you are on a fool’s mission if you want him to get a fair shake around here or most parts of Pensfandomland.