Quote:
Originally Posted by logan5
McDavid was called generational even before he played one NHL game. Toronto was calling Matthews "near generational" pretty damn quickly into his first season. Mostly because these guys lit it up in junior (in Matthews case a year in the Swiss league), and you could see how extremely talented they were. What Pettersson did in the SHL should be taken into consideration. Statistically wise, he is the best junior player to ever come out of Sweden. When you compare Pettersson U20 SHL season vs Henrik Sedin's best U20 SHL season (Daniel's totals are slightly lower), it's not even close - Pettersson 1.27 PPG. Sedin 0.94 PPG. After what he did in the SHL, then to see him continue to produce at the NHL level, even if it is just 9 games, suggests that he is a for real elite talent at least in the same tier as Matthews Laine etc. I think he will end up being better than them though.
He missed 6 games, otherwise he would be up there with Connor McDavid and Evgeni Malkin. GP 9 G 9 A 6. He's 2nd in the league in P/GP.
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2nd in ppg going but again only 9 games in and right after a 5 point night. The bottom line is there's no point in making assumptions about him, other than it looks like he'll be good, but better to make comparisons after a season, or at least halfway. Myself, I wouldn't make a comparison until at least halfway through the sophomore season. I've been around hockey long enough to see blazing starts taper off.
There have also been numerous players who have lit it up in junior that ended up being average players or not even making it in the NHL. It's a long term thing that takes more than 9 games with one of the games being an exceptional 5 game.
He could be better than Laine or Mathews, but I doubt it, only because the odds are that he won't. Give it a full season or so, and re-evaluate.