Pettersson joins 'best friend from home' on Canucks

VANCOUVER --Things turned out pretty well the last time the Vancouver Canucks used a high draft pick on a Swedish center who had chemistry with a linemate already in the organization.
Not that anyone is comparing Elias Pettersson to Henrik Sedin, who won an Art Ross Trophy and Hart Trophy and became the leading scorer in Canucks history since being selected No. 3 in the 1999 NHL Draft, one spot behind twin brother Daniel Sedin.

But having Swedish linemate Jonathan Dahlen in the Vancouver organization figures to make life a lot easier for Pettersson, who was the No. 5 pick at the 2017 NHL Draft.
"He's my best friend from home," Pettersson said of Dahlen, who was acquired in a trade with the Ottawa Senators for forward Alexandre Burrows on Feb. 27, "and to be on the same team in Sweden and get drafted by Vancouver and be in the same NHL organization is very cool."
Playing with Dahlen for Timra IK in Allsvenskan, the second-highest level of professional hockey in Sweden, Pettersson had 41 points (19 goals, 22 assists) in 43 games, and Dahlen, who was picked in the second round (No. 42) by the Senators in the 2016 NHL Draft, had 44 points (25 goals, 19 assists) in 45 games, mostly finishing plays Pettersson started.
"I am more of a passer, he is more of a goal-scorer," Pettersson, 18, said. "First time we played together was when he moved from HV71 to Timra three years ago and we started to play together directly and we found the chemistry directly and since that [time] the chemistry has become better and better. We think the same on the ice, we know where the other player is."

Vancouver president of hockey operations Trevor Linden downplayed the role Dahlen had in drafting Pettersson, but it didn't take long to see the chemistry when they combined for the first goal at development camp.
"We really look at them as separate players," Linden said. "The fact they did play together is nice. Will they be linemates in a couple years? Who knows, maybe. They certainly would complement one another. Elias has great vision and can distribute the puck. Jonathan is a guy who likes to get to the hard areas, so there's a potential that could be a fit in the future."
Pettersson's immediate future includes playing for Vaxjo in the Swedish Hockey League (SHL) this season and adding muscle, even though his size (6-foot-2, 161 pounds) was not a problem playing against men last season, Dahlen said.
"I remember the first game he played when he came up to the U-20s from the U-18s, there were already concerns he was too small," Dahlen said. "But he's just taken every step easily even though he was smaller than everyone else."
Pettersson said being smaller made him better by forcing him to learn how to use his body to protect the puck. Whether he gets to take his next step with Dahlen remains to be seen. Dahlen turns 20 on Dec. 20, making him old enough to play in the American Hockey League this season, but he has a contract option to play in the SHL if he doesn't make the Canucks. Either way, Pettersson and Dahlen have talked about eventually playing together in Vancouver.
"Not like serious talk about the future, but little fun talk to imagine how it could be," Pettersson said. "We were both very excited we could be in the same organization in the NHL."