The reason why Pettersson was ranked 10-15th in his draft class two years ago was because scouts were extremely concerned about his size. They were worried about his ability to avoid contact in the NHL and if hit he could have serious injuries.
Pettersson was concussed in his 5th game in a pretty routine play that most NHL players agree was a routine play. Mike Matheson of Florida was given a token 2 game suspension to appease the Vancouver Canucks media who had invested so much capital in Pettersson they couldn't find their way back to reality.
And the reality was Pettersson slew footed Matheson earlier in the game and Matheson, in my opinion, took a number (routine in the NHL) and he paid Pettersson back in full. If Pettersson wasn't 160 pounds he wouldn't have fallen so easily to the ground. Furthermore I believe Matheson when he says his glove got hung up in the kid's chin. It looks like he's shaking his hand free from him. I don't think he intended malice at all. I think he gave him a good smack on the boards as defensemen do enjoy doing. It's their job.
And so now that Pettersson has his first concussion the second concussion will come much easier. And since the first one was easily had - it goes with reason that Pettersson's second concussion could be just a simple normal check away.
This is why I had advocated strongly that Pettersson stay in Sweden for two more years and then go to Utica for a year. I heard the assistant GM say that the plan for Pettersson initially when they drafted him was 4 years to the NHL. That makes total sense to me. Somehow the other 2 years went out the window.
In defense of the management team - Pettersson clearly had the talent to play at the NHL level. Perhaps they thought his talent would allow him to survive the NHL. And that's not a bad theory - because it's not the same NHL as it was 25 years ago. But on the other hand - it's a worse environment because of the speed of the players involved.
And that brings me to Brett Lindros. Once Lindros got his 1st concussion the 2nd and subsequent concussions came very quickly and his very promising career was shutdown after 2 short seasons - injury marred seasons and that was a real shame because Eric Lindros' younger brother had a ton of potential. And as we know Eric Lindros also was forced out of the game after concussions. But back in the Lindros era - the hitting of the head was a real problem in the NHL. One which the NHL has done a good job curbing now that we know the dangers of concussions today - in part due to Brett Lindros and his advocacy on the issue. A lot wasn't known back then. It wasn't thought of as serious and in fact was considered funny that someone got their bell rung. Players and managers didn't know it caused damage afterwards.
And so that brings us back to Pettersson. Now we do know how difficult a problem a concussion can be. In some cases, such as Sidney Crosby, the player can continue after symptoms and continue to be really good (although I'd argue he wasn't ever the same player as before his first concussion).
So hopefully Pettersson is able to recover to pre-concussion levels.
But it seems silly to be saying that you hope he gets back to the two games he played against Calgary in the season openers. It wasn't a very long career.
And so that brings me to this question: why take a player where you know there's such a risk involved?
Was Pettersson the most talented player in his draft? Yes. I think everyone knew that. It wasn't a big secret that only Jim Benning of the Canucks knew about. What they all said was the injury risk because of his size.
At 6'3" and 160 pounds it makes his center of gravity very high with very little stability on the bottom. In other words Pettersson, by physiology, is inherently unstable on the ice. There isn't a lot of mass there to withstand physical contact. And that's why they were all worried about.
And so now you see Oli Juolevi who has had injury problems and some difficulty because of his body. And Pettersson. And what about Quinton Hughes at 5'6" and 147 pounds? That doesn't bode well for his future in the NHL.
The NHL is still a "law of the jungle" league. It always will be. It has to be. It's a violent sport. And without enforcers on every team - the jungle will prevail. No one is stopping the cheap shots. Sure, you can suspend a player - but they can still deliver a concussion before they get suspended.
And so, as someone in the Vancouver market, I'm hoping like heck Pettersson comes back to full health. But I'm also expecting that he probably won't.
And as someone who critiques the team I have to ask the question: Why go down these roads? Why not leave these risks to another team? You have to deliver products that can play in the NHL for 82 games per year.
DURABILITY
When you're drafting hockey players the one thing the Canucks have NOT done in the past 20 years is select players based on DURABILITY.
You have to play 82 games. It does no good if you're more talented but you can't get in the lineup due to injury.
A less talented team that plays a full healthy roster for almost all 82 games will get in the playoffs even though they don't have as much talent as other teams. DURABILITY. It matters. Drafting players like Jet Woo are red flags. Or Gagdovich or anyone else with a history of injuries.
Yes - they are more talented in most cases. But they're still on the draft board for a good reason - the previous teams have assessed the risk reward benefit and made a decision to say NO. That's not for us. We need 82 games.
The Canucks are now 5 games into a season and missing 2 centers due to injury. That's staggering. Your 1st and 4th (1st line PK center) are gone. And that's going to be trouble in the long run.
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