TSN: Hockey analyst Frankie Corrado joined Jay Onrait last week on SportsCenter as he broke down one burning question facing Canada’s seven teams. Going to the Western Conference, Corrado believes that the biggest question facing the Vancouver Canucks is Elias Pettersson and if he can put the noise aside and produce his best hockey in the playoffs.
** NHLRumors.com transcript
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Jay Onrait: “As for the Vancouver Canucks, they lost Elias Lindholm and Nikita Zadorov to their hated rivals, the Boston Bruins. So they steal Jake DeBrusk from the Boston Bruins to add some depth, and re-sign Filip Hronek. What is Rick Tocchet’s biggest question as he looks at his list?”
Frankie Corrado: “Can Elias Pettersson play like a star? Can he play like an $11.6 million player? And it’s funny right now, if you look at the Canucks’ roster, you see Pettersson down the middle, you see Miller down the middle. And if you think about who’s number one and who’s number two , you can change the coin now.
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You know, the salary would tell you that Pettersson is the starting center, but the way things went last year, JT Miller was the go-to guy. The Canucks want to compete in the Pacific, and I mean with the Edmonton Oilers, you’ll be facing Connor McDavid.
And that means that Elias Pettersson has a lot of responsibility to be around that 95-100 point range and carry that burden and that will be a question for Rick Tocchet, how can Pettersson take his game to that level, keep it. at that level and especially to keep it at that level of playing time because that’s when they’re going to need him to play at that $11.6 million level a lot.”
Onrait: “Well, that would be my follow up Frankie, I look at Pettersson in the playoffs last year at any point just to tell yourself, is this a regular season player and maybe an undrafted guy. should the playoffs be?”
Corrado: “No, I don’t think so Jay. I think you know when we’ve seen Pettersson struggle in the past, and we don’t know this for sure, but you hear rumblings, it could be a wrist issue, or it could be something going on with his swing, and it feels like when those questions seem to come up, his play slows down a little bit.
And those things will happen to every player. They happen to the best players in the world. But there are guys who can get past that and play with that and not let it affect them too much. So for Pettersson, I think it becomes a small question that you will not feel 100% all the time, but you still have to find a way to produce and play at the level that they pay you and expect you to do, and you know, call it for what it is, a very unique talent.
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He’s not the fastest player, but man, is he versatile. You know, he’s got a good shot, he’s got good hands when he plays with confidence, not many players can play the way he plays, but he’s going to have to have that confidence more often, and I’m sure Rick Tocchet is counting on him to have that confidence this year. “
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