Canucks rookie Elias Pettersson has splashed onto the NHL scene this year, but his countryman on the Rangers is hardly surprised.
Lias Andersson played with Pettersson on Swedish national teams growing up, once stuck on the fourth line before working their way up to top-line duties on the 2018 World Juniors squad that finished runners-up to Rangers rookie Brett Howden and Canada.
“I always thought he had it, for sure,” Andersson said Monday before facing off against Pettersson and the Canucks at the Garden. “The first year on the national team, we weren’t even picked, me and him on the under-16 national team.