Here Lies Ryan Strome's Ankles, Which Were Viciously Shattered By Elias Pettersson
Elias Pettersson is coming off of one of the best years a prospect could possibly have. If somehow you haven’t heard about the kid yet, he was Vancouver’s 5th overall pick in the 2017 draft. He spent last season playing for the Växjö Lakers in the Swedish Hockey League. He won the SHL championship with Växjö, was named the SHL Rookie of the Year, the SHL Forward of the Year, and the SHL MVP. He also won a silver medal at the World Juniors with Team Sweden and then went on to win gold at the World Championships. That was all as an 18/19 year old.
So clearly there’s nothing left in Sweden for Pettersson to do so he’ll almost definitely be spending the entire season with the Canucks this year. Which is highly unfortunate for guys like Ryan Strome because they’re going to need to waste at least a whole roll of tape on their ankles every time they have to play against Elias Pettersson or else they risk something disastrous like this happening to them.
He shook Strome completely out of the screen. Poise, patience, skill, and an overall “fuck you” demeanor on display right there. When you have Elias Pettersson on your PP1, you turn every powerplay into a 5v3. And if he’s not shattering ankles on the powerplay, he’s setting up his teammates with some preemo dunks on the doorstep in which they end up ruining his point total.
Ridiculous save by Talbot there, obviously. Which is a direct result of him getting called out on Spittin Chiclets on Monday so he can thank the boys for that snag. But still. If Pettersson dishes that puck to Boeser or Horvat or Quinn Hughes in another year or so? That’s in the back of the net 11 times out of 10. Hands of silk, eyes in the back of his head. Zetterberg can leave feeling confident that there’s a new Swede wearing #40 this year who is ready to take over the league.