Canucks: Elias Pettersson’s brain powers line success

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LAS VEGAS — Early in a 4-1 win over the Los Angeles Kings earlier this month, Elias Petterson collected a loose puck in the defensive zone and Ilya Mikheyev leaped onto the ice like a football wide receiver running a post pattern. rice field. His center will somehow get him the puck.

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Petterson did. Without even looking up at the ice, the Canucks center fired the puck hard into the boards at the perfect weight for Mikheyev to skate.

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Mikheyev took a half breakaway from the wing. He didn’t score, but the play everyone was talking about.

During Peterson’s much of his time in the NHL, his right winger was assumed to be Brock Vozer, so there was much debate over who his “other” winger would be. But with 21 games to go until the 2022-23 NHL season, that assumption is proving to be wrong.

Mikheyev and Andrei Kuzmenko have proven to be the perfect duo to line up with Pettersson, who has taken his game to a new level this season. have given 9 goals and 18 points, while Mikheyev has scored and 11 points.

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Pettersson is a strict player, but both wingers say they find it easy to play with him now that they understand what he’s looking for.

“He is our brain,” Mikheev said. “Whether it’s a pass or a shot, I can feel what he’s thinking.”

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Kuzmenko, whose English has improved considerably in just a few months, said the trio are always discussing how they will perform, so they are ready.

“Every day is talk. It’s all situations. What you play in the offensive zone. How you play in the middle zone. In different zones. rice field. “So when I have the pack, Peaty knows what I’m going to do in the future.

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“Peaty is one of the great centers in the world. It’s a simple game for him.”

His head coach is enthusiastic about Peterson’s two-way play. Bruce Boudreau has coached some of the best players in the game and Pettersson’s drive stands out.

“As good as Nick Backstrom,” said Boudreau, comparing Peterson to Washington’s former No. 1 center.

“It’s funny you asked that because I was trying to compare in my head the effort Peaty is playing and the guy I came up with talking to my wife about it yesterday. He wants to win. He wants to compete.” He wants to do it all, and he’s doing it quietly, but in a very positive way.”

Interestingly, that’s what another Swedish Boudreau thought of as a comparison.

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“I asked Patrick[Alvin]the other day. I mean, they[in Sweden]don’t play as many games when they’re growing up as the North Americans. You learn more about the game when you come here because you practice more, they know the positioning and they score a lot less often in Europe than they do here, so they defend the game. I think you can learn that aspect of it much more easily than we can.”

It certainly helps for the young Swede to be able to play professionally with men at the age of 18. Most Canadians of the same age aren’t allowed to make the intermediate step from his juniors to the AHL majors until they’re 20.

“I think it’s very helpful, too,” says Boudreau.

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Peterson should be considered one of the NHL’s best defensive forwards, he added.

Petterson entered the offseason with a mission.

“He said he wanted to be stronger,” Bo Hobutt said. “Just win the fight and it will definitely show on the ice.”

And not only is his line dominating offensively, but the dominance they’ve shown in the defensive zone. PKs were struggling in the early stages, but they seem to be shaping up.

“He also takes a lot of pride in his defensive game, and I think that just takes him to the next level,” Horbatt said.

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Petterson’s ferocity has been a standout for most of the night, and his ability to impose physicality is by far the best.

“I feel like I’m in the best shape I’ve ever been. I’m always aiming higher every game,” he said.

Oliver Ekman-Larsson has seen many great Swedish players in his time. He considers Pettersson to be one of them.

“The way he handles the puck,” the defenseman said of what stands out most in the center’s game.

“You can tell Petey takes a lot of pride in his d-zone coverage and all over the ice.JJust being around a guy like that every day makes you read for a guy. He just wants to get better every day. “

pjohnston@postmedia.com

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