Gretzky, the leading scorer in NHL history, said he also sees similarities between Pettersson and Pittsburgh Penguins center Sidney Crosby.
"We're lucky that guys like [Toronto Maple Leafs center] Auston Matthews and [Colorado Avalanche center] Nathan MacKinnon and of course [Edmonton Oilers center] Connor McDavid now have come along. They seem to be that new breed of player that's maybe be a little bit bigger, a little bit faster, a different kind of player than a guy like Sidney played," he said. "A guy like Pettersson plays more along the lines of the way Sidney plays and the way I played in that he's got to utilize his eyes and his hockey sense and rely on his instinctability on the ice. He's not a big guy [6-foot-2, 176 pounds]; Sidney [5-11, 200 pounds] was by no means a big man either. But his hockey sense; Sidney always seemed to be one step ahead of everyone else."
But in the end, Gretzky said, winning the Stanley Cup is what matters most.
"To me, the best guys are the guys who win championships," said Gretzky, who won the Stanley Cup four times with the Edmonton Oilers. "Ultimately as a leader and a guy who wins MVPs and wins scoring titles -- that's all gravy. But at the end of the day, it's all about lifting the Stanley Cup.
"Pettersson is a young kid right now. He's very young, it's a young organization in Vancouver, they've done a lot of great things over the last 12 months. I'm sure the people in Vancouver have to be very excited about the destination of that hockey club. There seems to be a very strong, good direction for that hockey club, and that's great for Vancouver."