Emilio Pettersen had productive season cracking top five Calgary Wranglers scorers
1 year ago
Emilio Pettersen played his third season with the Calgary Flames’ AHL affiliate in 2022-23. He previously spent the last two seasons with the Stockton Heat and was along for the ride for the transition into the Calgary Wranglers. While Pettersen has his shining moments, he isn’t always going to be the first guy you notice on the ice. He played a very regular role among the list of forwards for the Wranglers and this is how his efforts over the course of the season shaped up.
By the numbers
Regular season
Emilio Pettersen played in 61 regular season games with the Wranglers this year. His missed games were healthy scratches for the most part too. Pettersen was a victim of the Wranglers’ forward depth at times but the way he was playing at times was not keeping him in the lineup. He would put up fairly consistent points but when his scoring would go quiet for chunks of games, all of a sudden his spot on the ice was not guaranteed.
Head Coach Mitch Love was transparent about this situation with Pettersen and some other players in this scenario. It was more common with the young prospects as they were the ones you expected to see playing over some of the veteran third and fourth liners. Love would reiterate the fact that these guys are pros now and have to earn their time. Despite catching some games from the press box, Pettersen still had quite a productive year.
Emilio ended the regular season fifth in team scoring with 19 goals and 25 assists for a total of 44 points. This was his best season productivity wise almost doubling last season’s scoring with the Stockton Heat. In 2021-22, Pettersen’s point totals were 13 goals and 13 assists for a total of 26 points.
Post-season
Pettersen didn’t make the cut for all nine playoff games but he did manage to play in five of them. His only point through his post-season play was an assist in Calgary’s first game of their Coachella Valley series. He assisted on Adam Klapka’s goal in the second period and the last goal for his team that game.
Emilio was also noticeably absent in key moments in games. His ice time would waver in the last half of games they were down in, he doesn’t spend too much time on the power play, and he was often glued to the bench in overtime.
Even though 46 didn’t instil the most confidence in his coaches through playoffs, he still played a physical game that was needed against a team like the Firebirds especially.
Highlights
Next season
Emilio Pettersen is currently not under contract for next season as he enters the summer as a restricted free agent with no arbitration rights. Pending anything funky, I would imagine he re-joins the club next season and continues his run in the Flames’ affiliation system. If something weird happens and he’s left without a qualifying offer, I could see him looking for opportunities in the European market.
If he is back with Calgary next season, Pettersen is someone I’d really like to come out in September/October and stun everyone. His professional progression has been there but it has not been noticeably different from season to season. He could benefit from a productive off-season that makes him an essential core player for the Wranglers.
Rating
Even though Pettersen didn’t get to play every game, he still added to the ever-dangerous Calgary roster and contributed to the success of the team inside and outside of his scoring numbers. For Emilio’s season, I give him a B- rating.
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