Player Discussion Had Pettersson Regressed?

[ferroid]

Just wanting to gauge peoples’ opinions on this. In Pettersson’s first season, he was a goal scoring and playmaking phenom, and we all thought he would be a perennial superstar. In his second, he wasn’t as flashy but still drove play, although his wicked shot seemed to have fallen off. His third was obviously plagued by injury.

While the season is early, he looks disinterested and lazy in his play, and nothing like the dynamic play driver from his rookie campaign.

Do we still expect Pettersson to become a PPG+ center, and a top 10 player in the league? Or is what we’re seeing now what Pettersson will be for the rest of his career: an average top line player who leaves you wanting more?

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[Diversification]

It took him a while to get going in his sophmore season. Never really did last year.

It could just be that he missed training camp and our preseason means no one is really on the same page. Give it to the 20 game mark and we'll see how he looks then.

 

[maroon 6]

Pettersson will be over ppg this season.

 

[shottasasa]

Pettersson is looking pretty lost at the moment, with a lot of trying to do too much or making bad decisions that lead to no offense and bad turnovers. His shot seems fine so I don't think the wrist is an issue. Maybe he needs some time to get up to speed or he needs a confidence builder, but something needs to change. However, he does have the talent to become a top producer if he figures it out and I reckon he will, I just hope it's sooner rather than later.

 

[Bobby9]

I for one was very hesitant for our organization to give him a long term contract when he's proven so little. Im happy he only got 3 years.

I think he is skilled, but kind of arrogant and it's showing in his play. He does not posses the skill to be a one man show. Thats a Crosby, McDavid, P Kane skill very few players will ever posses. He needs to move his feet and use his team mates way more.

His "i can do it all' attitude will actually hinder him from being a super star.

 

[Pip]

It’s too early to say, however I am starting to grow a little concerned. It’s not only about production as well. At his best he controls the game and is all over the ice offensively and defensively. We need that player.

 

[vancityluongo]

Development is never linear.

Pettersson will be fine.

 

[BrentSopelsHair]

He's played 4 games after missing training camp and about 90% of preseason. There's no reason to panic

 

[rypper]

He's played 4 games after missing training camp and about 90% of preseason. There's no reason to panic

Couple that with the fact that prior to those games you mentioned, he hasn't played for something like 7 months.

 

[RussianRacket]

We have seen a mere 30 games from EP40 in the last calendar year. He is still near PPG.

I don't get why Canucks fans make mountains of panic out of things that aren't there.

 

[LaVal]

In his rookie season he was getting far more room, the opposition didn't know his moves, and goaltenders didn't have the book on him. He started off hot, the league took notice, and he cooled down. People remember him by his 10 goals in his first 10 games and forget he looked similar to the rest of his career once the word on him was out.

It was the same thing with Boeser. Neither of them will get the time and space they enjoyed when they first broke into the league. For all the talk about their rookie seasons, it was more their first 20 games that really stood out.

Whether or not there's more from Pettersson remains to be seen. It's possible that he pulls a MacKinnon and finds the next level to his game, but it's also possible that he developed early and entered the league more mature and NHL ready than most. He hasn't regressed, he just hasn't progressed.

 

[Billy Kvcmu]

Development is never linear
It’s also 4 games in

 

[likash]

We are blaming Petey now? You should go "upstairs" if you want to find someone to blame.

He took a hard hit last night in the first period.
Thank god we have lots of players who can keep the oposition honest.

 

[David Bruce Banner]

He's played 4 games after missing training camp and about 90% of preseason. There's no reason to panic

And half of last season.

 

[F A N]

Petey was the most dynamic in his rookie season. He wasn't as good in his sophomore season but he still managed to put up the points. Part of that was Miller driving the bus and part of that was Petey being the level of player who can produce offensively even when not performing at his best. His third season was injury plagued but it appeared similar to his second year.

Petey relies a lot on his elite shooting. He picks corners with both his wrist shot and one timers. A lot of that is timing for him and when his timing is off he misses the net instead of scoring top shelf.

I think it's just the nature of things that Petey had more room to operate in his rookie year. Since then everyone knows when he's on the ice and they especially look for his one timer on the PP. The great players manage to find a way and Petey just needs to do a better job of doing that if he wants to be among the elite.

Right now, Petey's timing is off and he's not getting any more room to operate. The game is fast and Petey plays fast. Petey not being at full speed is going to affect his production.

 

[iFan]

I think he’ll be fine but this is exactly why he wasn’t worth 8, 9 or 10 million per season on a long term deal…. He hasn’t proved he’s that elite player yet. He still has a lot of questions around him.

 

[Nucker101]

He’ll be fine, he’s one of the last players I’m concerned about. There’s much bigger issues with this roster than EP starting off rusty. The guy missed a huge chunk of games to end last season and missed camp this year, some early season struggles is to be expected.

Edit: also, add him to the long list of basically the entire roster who would benefit from a playing for a real NHL head coach

 

[JumpierPegasus]

While I agree with the above, development isn't linear and he has missed a lot of hockey lately, I do get concerned from what seems to be lack of progression after stellar rookie years from a lot of our players

Brock Boeser had an amazing rookie year and since then has felt stagnant, never really improving on that season in goals or points
Quinn Hughes had an incredible rookie year, one of the best rookie defensemen I've ever seen, and his sophomore campaign and the start to this season leave a lot to be desired on both sides of the puck tbh
Elias Pettersson looked like a future Art Ross winner in his rookie season but has never crushed that PPG plateau coming into his now 4th season
Bo Horvat has remained a 50-60 point player since Green came into the team
JT Miller had a huge first season under Green and -- while producing -- feels like his game has hit a wall since then

Just feels like a trend with a lot of our guys, I personally just haven't seen the progression I expect out of them since they had incredible rookie seasons. Maybe I expected too much, and it's more than likely I am judging them too early, but just feels like we haven't developed them to heights they could have achieved by this point. Whether that is coaching, or some injury issues especially in the Boeser/Petey camps, it's disappointing

 

[MS]

It's 4 games.

But it was also all of last season.

And I was saying many of these same things for much of the 19-20 season.

His first half-season in the NHL, he was a high-motor player. Super talented, but what set him apart was he was hustling all over the ice and breaking up plays and stealing pucks and going to hard areas of the ice. The things we see Hoglander do now? Pettersson was doing those then, only with more skill to capitalize. He didn't wait for the game to come to him - he was out there trying to force the play and impact the game.

Since then, he's gradually become more and more of a cerebral low-motor player who waits for the game to come to him. And is in love with his one-timer and in love with trying fancy dekes. And he's smart enough he can still be in good positions defensively and still put up good numbers playing like this, but it's really disappointing relative to the player it looks like he could have been.

And absolutely development isn't linear and he's young and he can pull himself out of this ... but I'm not sure he'll be getting the direction and guidance here he needs to be able to do that.

 

[iceburg]

Regress is the wrong word IMO. Slowed progression? Perhaps. EP strikes me as a player still trying to figure out who he will ultimately become as an NHL player. He tries all kinds of stuff (this is good) and over time he will learn what works best and what doesn't. The game is also faster than it was even when he started - it has adapted somewhat to players like EP entering the league.

Rarely do players regress in early/mid development. The development of any player is within a range of an upward trajectory. They might hit the low or high end of that range at the end of the day.

Players become smarter and adjust their games as they develop. Boeser clearly looked like he would be a 40 goal scorer when he entered the league and, while he still might get there, it seems the likelihood of him achieving that status is less now than it was in his rookie season. That doesn't mean he has regressed. He has developed well in other areas and is a better all around player now. The team will win more with 2021 Boeser than 2017 Boeser.

 

[cabinessence]

In his rookie season he was getting far more room, the opposition didn't know his moves, and goaltenders didn't have the book on him. He started off hot, the league took notice, and he cooled down. People remember him by his 10 goals in his first 10 games and forget he looked similar to the rest of his career once the word on him was out.

It was the same thing with Boeser. Neither of them will get the time and space they enjoyed when they first broke into the league. For all the talk about their rookie seasons, it was more their first 20 games that really stood out.

Whether or not there's more from Pettersson remains to be seen. It's possible that he pulls a MacKinnon and finds the next level to his game, but it's also possible that he developed early and entered the league more mature and NHL ready than most. He hasn't regressed, he just hasn't progressed.

Heck, even Garry Valk was a scoring machine in his first 15 games in the NHL.

 

[Grantham]

Some really good comments here, and I agree.

The one thing that EP has going for him though even in this year so far, is that his line can be relied upon to not get caved in and be a defensive liability. His line in the last game, which was one of the worst showings against a bottom tier team, was the only line driving the play and putting the pressure on the wings. The Dickinson line got absolutely caved in, and the Horvat line was a almost as bad.

I really don't worry about EP though. He's such a smart player he'll figure it out. But like MS said above he's fallen in love with his one-timer and that's hurt other parts of his game. He needs to hustle and skate and be relentless on the puck like in his rookie season.

He started to really come around last year after a brutal start so hopefully we see that starting tonight.

 

[F A N]

It's 4 games.

But it was also all of last season.

And I was saying many of these same things for much of the 19-20 season.

His first half-season in the NHL, he was a high-motor player. Super talented, but what set him apart was he was hustling all over the ice and breaking up plays and stealing pucks and going to hard areas of the ice. The things we see Hoglander do now? Pettersson was doing those then, only with more skill to capitalize. He didn't wait for the game to come to him - he was out there trying to force the play and impact the game.

Since then, he's gradually become more and more of a cerebral low-motor player who waits for the game to come to him. And is in love with his one-timer and in love with trying fancy dekes. And he's smart enough he can still be in good positions defensively and still put up good numbers playing like this, but it's really disappointing relative to the player it looks like he could have been.

And absolutely development isn't linear and he's young and he can pull himself out of this ... but I'm not sure he'll be getting the direction and guidance here he needs to be able to do that.

I agree with this. Petey is getting by because he is so talented. Which is fine and he will be fine. He says he wants to win but the great ones put their teams on their back.

I don't even mean this as a criticism of Petey. Not everyone can be a Sidney Crosby or McDavid who also benefited from having Lemieux and Gretzky, respectively, in the organization to guide them. He's still young. MacKinnon blossomed into an elite player in his 5th year in the league and we've all recently read about the commitment he made to get him there (although he did have Sakic and Crosby to lean on). Lemieux learned to be a leader after playing with Gretzky at the Canada Cup as the story went. The organization does have the Sedins and if you aren't motivated by a passionate Miller when he led the team in scoring or the younger Hoglander who never stops moving his legs then I don't think the issue is a lack of direction and guidance. Certainly, stars these days can approach people to get their advice.

Petey wants to be an elite player. That doesn't just involve working on his conditioning so that he can obliterate everyone in the bag skate. It's things like McDavid adding one timers. It's the grueling workouts that Crosby and MacKinnon do to give them the edge. Petey doesn't like to talk about his weight but that comes naturally if you're working out and getting stronger like Crosby and MacKinnon.

 

[Hoglander]

Love Petey, but he needs to grow a sack. Was hoping that his battle level would get better as he physically matured, but it's actually getting worse(Green is fine with that). He's a perimeter player right now, that watches board battles instead of battling. Watching him attempt to dump and chase is embarrassing. The way Green holds certain players accountable and then let's others get away with poor play, is tough to watch.

Keep the players and the goalie coach, go scorched earth on everything else-all the way up the chain and including ownershit

 

[geebaan]

Maybe 4 games in isn’t the right time for this thread eh?