Elias Pettersson has some work to do in key areas to become a Selke Trophy finalist
Stand down Vancouver Canucks fans. Elias Pettersson was not snubbed when this year's finalists for the Frank J. Selke Trophy were unveiled by the National Hockey League Monday afternoon.
Pettersson is an incredible player who is only getting better. He's coming off a 102-point season -- a campaign highlighted by a surge in scoring combined with an improved two-way presence. And while the 24-year-old is showing signs of becoming a potential Selke candidate, Pettersson is not yet one of the very best defensive forwards in the league. So there was no slight -- nor any shame -- that Pettersson took a backseat to finalists Patrice Bergeron, Mitch Marner and Nico Hischier in voting by the Professional Hockey Writers Association. The Selke will be presented at the NHL Awards in Nashville on Monday June 26th.
This marks the 12th straight season Bergeron has been up for this award. A five-time winner, the Bruins captain is an absolute face-off ace winning 61% of his draws this season to go along with an individual Corsi of 59.7%. At 5-on-5, the Bruins held an astonishing 46-18 edge in goals scored with the veteran centre on the ice. On top of all that, Bergeron was a huge part of the league's best penalty kill this season with the Bruins successfully killing off 87.3% of the times they were short-handed.
Like Bergeron, Hischier was a wizard in the face-off circle setting New Jersey franchise records for draws taken and won this season. He was fifth in the league in overall face-offs taken (1654) and won 53.9% of them. The first overall pick in the 2017 Draft led all Devils forwards in short-handed ice time and played a key role in the league's third-best penalty kill during the regular season. At 5-on-5, the Devils outscored opponents 61-39 with Hischier on the ice and the 24-year-old led New Jersey with 64 takeaways.
Marner, meanwhile, is the lone winger among the three finalists this season so face-offs are not part of his defensive repetoire. But takeaways certainly are. And no forward in the National Hockey League stole more pucks from opponents than the Leafs leading scorer. In fact, Marner became just the seventh forward to reach the century mark in takeaways (107) since the league began keeping the statistic in the 1997-98 season. Marner was 13th among all NHL forwards and second among Leafs forwards in short-handed ice-time on a team that finished fourth in penalty killing this season. And at 5-on-5, Toronto outscored its opponents 64-39 with Marner on the ice.
Elias Pettersson finished with more points than any of this year's finalists, but by definition the Selke is awarded to the forward who best excels in the defensive aspects of the game. As such, Pettersson's season doesn't quite measure up to the bodies of work of Bergeron, Hischier or Marner. For starters, Pettersson and the Canucks missed the playoffs and had the league's worst penalty kill. That had to be hard for voters to overlook. Individually, Pettersson won just 44.3% of his face-offs this season and tied for second on his team with 56 takeaways. While the Canucks as a whole were outscored by 23 at 5-on-5 this season, the team managed to outscore opponents by a dozen with Pettersson on the ice (65-53), however the gap wasn't as sizeable as those deemed to be the best defensive forwards in the business.
It was no secret the Canucks as a team struggled to kill penalties all season, yet Pettersson showed second-half flashes that should help the hockey club in that department in the years ahead. He led all Canucks forwards and was second on the team in short-handed ice time this season. An active stick and keen anticipation led to a second-half surge and a power kill that resulted in Pettersson and teammate JT Miller finishing tied for the league-lead in short-handed goals (5) and points (9). Moving forward, Pettersson's penalty killing prowess should aid his case in future Selke bids.
Individually, across the board, Pettersson's possession metrics were positive on a team that yielded far too much over 82 games. But clearly he needs to improve his face-off win percentage and, to truly attract the attention of voters, he likely needs to force a few more turnovers along the way.
Perhaps Bergeron's pending retirement will open a lane for Pettersson and others to work their way into Selke consideration. It's one of those league awards that seems to require a player to nibble at the fringes with a few votes for a couple of seasons before moving into legitimate candidate territory. Elias Pettersson shows all sorts of signs that his game at both ends of the ice and in all game situations is trending in that direction. But the evidence is irrefutable that he's not there just yet.
(The league and the PHWA will reveal the final Selke vote tally after June's award ceremony.)