Vancouver Canucks Looking to Give Elias Pettersson A Shot on Defense Amid Struggles
With the Vancouver Canucks in a tight spot with their two best defenseman Quinn Hughes and Filip Hronek on the IR, they have had to rely on depth blue liners, and it is time that they bring up Elias Pettersson to fill the gap.
Even before Quinn Hughes and Hronek went down with injuries and leaving the Canucks in an uncomfortable position, the team has had an issue with playing solid depth d-men to hold up their end of the production when Hughes is not on the ice.
With all the rumours pointing to Canucks general manager Patrik Allvin wanting to make trade to upgrade their top-4 defesneman, the answer could lie internally, by calling up a solid young prospect.
Vancouver Canucks Should Call Up Elias Pettersson
Without Hughes, the Vancouver Canucks are now 1-2-1, and those losses were not nail biters.
The losses came at the hands of the Calgary Flames, Seattle Kraken, and Nashville Predators who are all team below the Canucks in the standings.
The Loss to the Seattle Kraken was especially disappointing as they blew a three-goal lead with under five minutes to play.
The goal for team is to be able to have depth excell in many situations, and Elias Pettersson (D) in the AHL could be the answer to a lot of their issues.
Pettersson is a big body and physical defeseman that can shut down teams, move the puck efficiently and be slotted into many situations.
His style of play makes it perfect to translate to the NHL game.
In 30 appearances with the Abbotsford Canucks, the D-man has 1 goal and 11 assists for 13 points, but his impact in the game comes on the other side of the puck.
