Jets rookie centre Petan is a top-flight fourth-liner

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This article was published 30/09/2015 (3690 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

No one has told Nic Petan to unpack his bags just yet. And so, until he gets the official welcome-to-the squad speech, the 20-year-old Winnipeg Jets wannabe will continue to keep his head down, his blinders on and do his thing.

This just in: Petan’s thing has been pretty good through training camp and the NHL pre-season, so much so he might want to start getting comfy in the Jets dressing room.

Petan cracking the lineup — given the gaudy point totals he put up during his junior days with the Portland Winterhawks (an astonishing 358 in just 252 WHL games) — is hardly going to blow up Twitter. But the role he seems destined to play this winter could continue to redefine the definition of the fourth-line player, both here in Winnipeg and as part of a league-wide trend.

It wasn’t too long ago when the fourth line was reserved for bruisers and brawlers, penalty killers and faceoff specialists. And when they hopped over the boards, the coach would often just pray the trio could give the team some decent minutes without the puck having to be fished out of its own net.

Petan could change that for the Jets.

Not only is he versatile enough to play both centre and wing, he has already received time on the second power-play unit because of his vision and ability to distribute. He’s got a nifty element to his game that would add some offensive flair to the fourth line (coupled with Andrew Copp and Chris Thorburn) and also makes him an option in the league’s new plaything: 3-on-3 overtime.

Put it this way: James Wright, he is not.

“(Petan) has a real unusual skill set,” Jets head coach Paul Maurice said Wednesday. “The fourth line was always structured as physical guys or penalty killers, and he’s a power-play guy. That’s the big difference. He handles the puck and moves the puck in that matter. He’s got real good awareness, body awareness of where he is on the ice… his reads are pretty solid defensively.

“A lot of times, you get a real skilled player who hasn’t spent any time playing defence. Nic has a pretty good awareness of the defensive side of the game, so it gives him a bit of an advantage.”

All of this isn’t a backhanded attempt to reopen the fighting’s-place-in-hockey debate. That’s another discussion for another time. Besides, the Jets have enough tough hombres who can handle themselves when the gloves hit the ice that there can still be room for skilled newcomers such Petan (a second-round pick in 2013) and 19-year-old Nikolaj Ehlers (first round in 2014). They also have Anthony Peluso handy as one of the NHL’s nastiest dudes if Maurice & Co. believe they need to suit up a patrolman.

The Jets dressed both Peluso and Thorburn as fourth-liners in 48 games last year, but together only once in the team’s final 13 after augmenting the roster at the trade deadline with Jiri Tlusty and Lee Stempniak.

And that, indirectly, may have opened the door for a diminutive-but-skilled player such as the 5-9 Petan.

It’s really not all that complicated: the deeper the team, the deeper the playoff run.

“It’s a great opportunity. It’s very diverse,” Petan said of his role through the pre-season. “You can kind of use me anywhere, but with my line right now with Copp and Thorburn, I feel comfortable with it.

“Whatever role they put me in, I think I can do my best to make them happy.”

That’s becoming more and more evident with each shift, including Tuesday’s 4-3 overtime win over the Ottawa Senators. Petan’s name doesn’t show up on the scoresheet, but it was a flash of his skill with little more than five minutes remaining — he stickhandled through a trio of Senators before being mauled in front of the net by Mark Borowiecki — that led to a penalty and a power-play goal by Drew Stafford as part of the Jets’ late rally.

The Jets could use a whole lot more of that across their lineup, but especially from their bottom six.

Remember, it was earlier in camp when Maurice spoke of the advantages of having five centres in his top nine and how that depth down the middle gave him so many options for line combinations and situations. Adding another converted centre such as Petan just opens up his playbook that much more.

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Maurice wouldn’t confirm Petan has made the big club Wednesday — and that may be in part because the coach wants to take another peek at J.C. Lipon and Thomas Raffl, both of whom will likely be in tonight’s lineup against the Calgary Flames. But Petan has done what every prospect hopes to do when the curtain lifts on a camp: he’s made a size-large impact with his minutes.

All that’s left now, it would seem, is for him to get the thumbs-up from management.

“I don’t want to say anything,” Petan said with a grin. “Obviously, as an individual you want to think positive about yourself. So… I’m just waiting.”

ed.tait@freepress.mb.ca

Twitter: @WFPEdTait