The Best of 2018 - 1. Elias Pettersson

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The Best of 2018 - 1. Elias Pettersson

1. Elias Pettersson

The SHL was dominated by one team in 2017/8 season - Växjö Lakers. They won the regular season by 21 points and made light work of a talented Skellefteå AIK smashing them 4-0 in the best of seven series.

An outstanding team effort can only occur when all the individuals in the squad are playing at their best. And more than any other player that can be said of young forward, Elias Pettersson. Then 19 year old, he finished top of the Total Points with 56, including 24 goals and a 1.27 Points Per Game average. He was also part of the World Junior Championship team that won Silver in Buffalo and the team that won World Championship Gold in Denmark. He was already drafted in the first round in 2017 by Vancouver Canucks and his career seems to go from strength to strength as he has already established himself as a regular points scorer in the NHL.

This video clip is 6:42 long and contains all Pettersson's points from the Playoff in 2018. It is worth seeing the whole thing to see the breath of his skills set as he scores from the left and right and sets up goal for teammates from the boards or the slot. My favourites are the goal at 0.36 - how does he create such a powerful shot with such a small backlift?; the semi final winning goal at 2:19 where he rounds the Malmö keeper; and the first goal in the final championship winning match at 5:43.