#12 - Jeff Petry

As crazy as I think Derek is for his low ranking on Dubnyk, I’ve got to commend him for his high ranking on Petry. Everything I’ve seen so far, I like.

I know he’s only a dozen games into his NHL career, but the guy eats a ton of ice time already, and he’s not bleeding numbers everywhere in the Oiler end.

It’s a dozen games, yes. But it’s a dozen games on the 2010-11 Edmonton Oilers.

I missed the boat on this one. He jumped nine spots between now and this past summer in my personal rankings.

Not that I apparently believed my own words when unthinking my way to the above ranking, but perhaps this is a time to revisit my impressions from summer camp, when Petry elicited a comment on four out of four days.

Of the others, Jeff Petry impressed with his rangy skating and sharp puck control. A corny oversimplification, I know, but he “just looks like a hockey player”.

Jeff Petry caught my eye for a second day in a row, and gives the impression of a guy who’ll be an NHLer sooner rather than later. Hard to tell without seeing real game situations of course.

For the third day running I saw Jeff Petry real good. Tall and rangy, right-hand shot, seems calm and in control, at first gulp not a lot different than Tom Gilbert was when he turned pro. We can only hope. I’ve been impressed with his skating, and saw a different aspect of that today during some 2-on-1 drills which Petry played to near perfection, taking away the pass before closing down the puck carrier at the exact right moment.

Of the blueliners, by far the most impressive yet again was Jeff Petry, a dominant figure who won a large number of one-on-one battles. Of course the 23-year-old should dominate against what was largely teenaged competition, but dominate he did. He’s got some nice instincts which were on display on one sequence when he walked the blueline to maintain possession, beat his man, then walked in to score on a nifty deke. Strong all-around skater, good size and reach, quick stick, the kid’s got a nice basket of talents and is certainly a prospect to watch.

I don’t think I need retract too many of those impressions. As for that Gilbert comp, it’s instructive to compare Petry’s first dozen games with Gilbert’s first NHL “season” which coinicdentally consisted of 12 games.

Gilbert 12 GP, 1-5-6, -1, 0 PiM, 20:05 ATOI, 13 shots
Petry 12 GP, 1-1-2, +1, 2 PiM, 21:26 ATOI, 19 shots

.. which is pretty reasonably close, give or take a handful of finished passes. I remember likiing Gilbert’s game pretty much from Game One, and I have found myself responding to Petry in a similar fashion. Hits a little harder, too!

So glad he’s doing well. I was hoping you all would like him. :)

I don’t recall the last time I saw a defenseman look like your prototypical all-around defenseman like I saw with Petry. His game is so subtle – Bruce is right to compare him to Gilbert, but Petry is much more athletic when compared to Gilbert.

I had the benefit of talking to someone who was close to the Michigan State program and when he talked about Petry, he mentioned the little, little noticed things he does like making sure he gets the puck to the net when he shoots. He won’t miss high and wide by 8 feet just to shoot really hard. He also talked about Petry’s ability to play both RD and LD and how he could change in the middle of a long shift if his new partner played the other side.

Aside from his skating ability, my favorite thing about him is how he slows the play down. Even as a rookie, when he grabs the puck, everything around him calms down.