Over 100 points in the NHL.
Now Elias Pettersson has agreed to play in the WC.
But one detail can stop the superstar.
Expectations were high for the Vancouver Canucks before the NHL season, but it was a real disappointment. The team missed the playoffs, but there was a glimmer of light. Elias Pettersson took a huge step in his development, and accounted for an explosion of points.
Have accepted
Despite the Canucks underperforming, Pettersson became the twelfth Swede in NHL history to reach 100 points in the world’s best league. And given that the Canucks missed the playoffs, Swedish hockey fans immediately began to speculate whether Pettersson would be able to make it to Tampere to play in the World Cup. And now the answer has come.
Elias Pettersson has no contract to negotiate or think about, and given the form he’s in, it’s understandable that he wants to keep playing. Now Aftonbladet writes that Pettersson has agreed to play in the tournament, but there remains a challenge for the Swedish Hockey Association to solve. Namely, you need to pay expensive money – two to three million kroner – to settle the insurance for Pettersson, should an injury happen.
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Hope for Karlsson
But if you solve that payment, everything indicates that Tre Kronor will get a real star boost in the championship. Elias Pettersson has known confederation captain Sam Hallam since their time in Växjö, and it was under Hallam that Pettersson had his big breakthrough in Swedish ice hockey, when he dominated the SC playoffs as a youth.
Tre Kronor is also hoping for further star reinforcement in the form of Erik Karlsson, who also reached over 100 points in the NHL during the season. His San Jose Sharks were never close to reaching the playoffs, and if Tre Kronor were to get Karlsson into the backup lineup, they would immediately be counted as one of the big gold favorites.
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