The World Juniors each year are a showcase of the young talent around the world when it comes to ice hockey and each year I seem to walk away with a new player or two to admire. A few years ago, Nic Petan wore the Team Canada colours and just seemed to dominate the tournament. It was his second appearance and after finishing 4th in 2014, he helped lead Team Canada to a gold medal in 2015 by scoring 4 goals and 11 points along the way in just 7 games.
Success in a junior tournament by no means dictates success at the NHL level but I do believe this young 22 year old player has the potential to be a very solid second line NHL player and given he's a member of a very young and exciting Jets team, the future could be very bright for both him and his club. Over the past couple years I've managed to pick up a few of his cards:
2015-16 Upper Deck Nicolas Petan Young Gun
While I Nic'd the scan of this one from the internet, I did pull one or two of his cards during my quest for a McDavid young gun. He didn't stalk me as much as Larkin or Panarin but each time I hit him I was pretty happy with the outcome regardless.2015-16 UD Contours Rookies Nicolas Petan /199
Contours was a product that meant to be a little premium and a little different but alas I don't believe collectors jumped aboard the product like Crown Royale fans used to and as a result you can find this product still for a pretty reasonable price. My LCS has boxes for 89.99. I picked this one up for $5 which I'd do all over again.
2015 Upper Deck Team Canada Juniors Jumbo Jersey Nicolas Petan /199
Game used Team Canada jersey? Yes please! I don't think this was from the Gold Medal winning tournament but then again I don't know for certain it wasn't. Either way, it was game worn by Nic Petan which is still pretty cool in a Team Canada game.
Nicolas Petan finished this past year by playing in 54 NHL games where he put up 1 goal and 13 points. Very modest numbers but he mostly was seeing bottom 6 time and support and I believe in time he could find himself higher up in the line up and as a result production will increase. In the meantime I wouldn't be surprised if we see 30 points from him in 2017-18 and more importantly I am excited to see what the Jets will be capable of this coming season after just missing out on a playoff spot. They did finish the season as the hottest team in the NHL with a 7 game winning streak so if that is any indication, look out Western Conference.
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