Today, we're going to take a closer look at the young Russian-Swedish winger, Gunnar Petrov.

Gunnar, is a high scoring winger born in Russia. He comes from a strong bloodline as his parents are both athletes themselves. His father played 15 years of pro hockey in Russian and played for Team Russia at the 1998 Winter Olympics where he would meet his future wife and mother of Gunnar Petrov. She was a Silver Medal winning skiier that year while competing for Sweden. The parents wanted to pay homage to Swedish heritage hence his name, Gunnar. Standing at 5'11 and weighing around 180 lbs, he'll never be the biggest guy on the ice, but he makes up for that with his high hockey IQ and heavy shot.

Although at odd times it can be a weakness of his as well, Gunnar's main strength is his confidence. He believe's himself to be a top 10 talent in the draft and his performance at the prospect showcase[20GP - 11G - 6A - 17P +8] has shown him to be a possible late 1st round pick or early 2nd.

"Nobody thinks more highly of this kid then himself, and sometimes it can rub people the wrong way. He's a great kid though. I've seen it in the locker room he's a funny kid, English is his 2nd language but he's been over here since he was 16 playing high school hockey and learning the North American game. He'll have the odd hiccup or take a penalty he shouldn't once in a while but that's because he's so involved and always wants the puck on his stick. I've seen him make some incredible plays in the short time I've coached him." said his high school coach.


Gunnar pictured here playing for Russia at the 2018 IIHF U18 World Championships

Gunnar also possesses very soft hands and above average skating but his top quality is his blistering wrist shot. He tries to model his game after Russian legends Ilya Kovalchuk and Pavel Bure and it's not hard to see the comparison between the game styles. Those are very big shoes to fill but Gunnar has already been working hard with his trainer/agent and Russian legend himself, Igor Larionov. Igor has spoken very highly of Gunnar.

"I've known this kid since he was just a child, having played with his father on the national team. He's grown up around some of the greatest Russian players and has seen what it takes to be a professional. He's like a sponge always trying to learn more. Very coachable player. He realizes what his strengths are and really wants to round out his game. He realizes his defensive game and strength need to go up and we've already been working on that every day and I think whichever team that drafts him will see that right away. His offensive game speaks for itself, he's a born goal scorer and always wants the puck on his stick. This can come across as selfish at times but as long as the pucks going in the net coaches will be happy. With 11 goals in this past prospect showcase and the strides I know he'll continue to make I think it'll be a mistake if he's not taken in the top 15 picks." - Igor Larionov.

Well, Larionov thinks that Gunnar should be a top 15 pick which is not far off where analysts and fans have been slotting him around in there mock drafts. Tune in to the SMJHL draft this Tuesday, February 19th to find out where Gunnar lands.



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