He may be on pace for 36 goals this season, but Elias Pettersson hasn’t exactly been blasting away with his slap shot.
Early in his career, Pettersson became known for his bomb of a one-timer from the top of the right faceoff circle on the power play. In fact, he became a little bit too well known for that shot, as opposing penalty kills now key in on that shooting lane and take it away.
Pettersson only has one power play goal this season and it was scored with a wrist shot rather than a slap shot. Arguably, he didn’t even score the goal, though it was credited to him. Even Pettersson thought that a sliver of the puck was still on the goal line when Andrei Kuzmenko shot it into the net, even as Kuzmenko assured him, “It's not my goal! No! It's your goal!”
However, there will be no penalty killers lining up to block Pettersson at the 2023 All-Star Skills Competition.
Pettersson will be competing in the Hardest Shot competition, as he did the last time he went to the All-Star Game in 2020. That time, he shocked everybody — seemingly himself included — with a 102.4 mph slap shot.
Not only was that bomb of a shot good for third in the competition behind only defencemen John Carlson and Shea Weber, but it was also the second-hardest shot ever by an NHL forward at an All-Star event. He even quickly proved that it wasn’t a fluke by following it up with a second shot over 100 mph.
Pettersson's 102.4 mph shot is the hardest in the competition
Pettersson won’t be shocking anyone anymore. Everyone knows how hard he can shoot the puck now, with flawless technique aided now by improved strength. Whether he can match his previous effort of 102.4 mph will depend entirely on the vagaries of the moment, but he’s certainly capable of doing so.
Last year, Victor Hedman won the event with a 103.2 mph slap shot but he won’t be in the event this year and neither will Shea Weber or John Carlson, the two previous winners, so the title is up for grabs.
It’s possible that if Pettersson can hit 102.4 mph he can win the event, but he will be facing some stiff competition. He won’t be the only forward this time around, with Alex Ovechkin taking part for the sixth time in his career. He’ll also be facing Seth Jones in his fourth time in the event and first-timers Rasmus Dahlin and Josh Morrisey.
Ovechkin won the Hardest Shot competition in 2018 with a 101.3 mph blast but his hardest shot ever was in 2015 when he finished second with a 101.4 mph shot.
Seth Jones hasn’t cracked the century mark in his previous three times in the event, getting closest with 99.4 mph in 2019. His hardest shot was 98.1 mph in 2017 and 98.8 mph in 2020. You can bet he’ll be aiming for over 100 in his fourth crack at the event.
Pettersson’s hardest shot has bested both Ovechkin and Jones, so he has a strong chance of winning.
The wild cards are Dahlin and Morrisey. Neither has competed in the Hardest shot at the NHL All-Star Game before.
Dahlin hasn’t even competed in the Hardest Shot at the Buffalo Sabres’ own Skills Challenge event before, so he’s a complete unknown. While Dahlin has a hard shot, he's known more for distributing the puck. How hard can he actually shoot the puck? Who knows?
Morrisey didn’t compete in the Hardest Shot at the Winnipeg Jets’ Skills Competition last month but his best shot in competitions that I could find was 94.8 mph in 2016.
Judging purely on their shots in past competitions, the Hardest Shot could come down to the two forwards, Ovechkin and Pettersson, barring Dahlin surprising everyone with a secret Chara-esque bomb.
Could Pettersson bring home his first win in the event this year? We will see on Friday.
