Pelletier missed his `edge' in frustrating season
Jakob Pelletier isn't sitting here pretending he isn't frustrated with the way his year went.
It started with so much promise.
Calgary Flames head coach Ryan Huska was clear that Pelletier's play throughout camp had earned him a spot on the NHL roster.
But a shoulder injury suffered in a pre-season game required surgery. That meant four months out of the lineup.
That was gruelling, but Pelletier returned after the all-star break, only to suffer another unrelated injury on the same shoulder.
He recovered physically, but speaking Monday, the 23-yearold admitted he never quite got back to where he needed to be mentally.
“It's a pain in the a--, to be honest. Injuries happen, but I don't think I was the same Jakob Pelletier that I was last year or the year before,” Pelletier said Monday from Winsport, where the Calgary Wranglers held their end-of-season media availabilities. “The second injury kind of hurt me more mentally than physically. It was the same shoulder again and it wasn't related, but I still missed three more weeks.
“Me, when I miss time, when I'm not playing hockey, I'm not the same person. It's not that it changes my personality, but I'm more negative. Usually, I'm more positive so I think that affected me a lot on the mental side.”
Beyond the hockey related challenges the season threw Pelletier's way, it was an extremely difficult year away from the ice, too. His father was battling cancer back home and though Pelletier said his dad is doing better now, everybody can understand how hard that is for any family.
At the rink, Pelletier just never felt like he fully got back to being the best version of himself. He was happy with the way he played for his first few games after the all-star break, but never got back to that point after he returned from the second injury.
“I think it's confidence, I didn't have the confidence this year,” said Pelletier, who was selected in the first round (26th overall) in the 2019 NHL draft by the Flames.
“I had it when I came back but when (New York Rangers defenceman Jacob Trouba) hit me and I was out for three weeks, it's like it was gone. Normally, I hold on to pucks. Normally, I'm more tenacious on the forecheck. Normally, I'm more dog on a bone, which I wasn't.
“If I'm not that, I'm not the same hockey player. I'm just a normal hockey player. I think that's what makes me have an edge. It make me (feel) that I can play in the NHL. If I don't have that, what am I doing?”
The Flames still have a lot of confidence in Pelletier.
In 2022-23, when he was healthy, Pelletier provided a real spark for a struggling Flames team. He played in 24 games, scoring three goals and adding four assists.
Those numbers were way down this season and he played in only 13 games, scoring once and adding two assists before spending the last month of the season with the Wranglers, who were eliminated from the playoffs by the Coachella Valley Firebirds last weekend.
Being sent to the AHL should not be seen as the Flames losing faith in Pelletier, though.
“You feel bad for Jakob,” Flames general manager Craig Conroy said at the NHL team's end-of-year availabilities in
April. “He came in in great shape, missed a lot of time, he came back, the Trouba hit set him back again and we just thought, `Would we have loved to see him down the stretch?' Absolutely, but with that said we want to see him get in and play as much as he can and have a good playoff run and just have a great summer and come back.
“The one thing Jakob brings is you notice his speed, even in the games in Boston when he just came back, it was noticeable. The speed was there, and then the injury against the Rangers. It's a disappointing season for him, I can't imagine what he's going through right now, but for him to go down, have fun, play a ton and just regroup. He's part of our plans moving forward, you don't want him to overthink it. It's just about playing in a season where the injuries were unfortunate.”
Now, the challenge for Pelletier is to take advantage of a long summer and come back better than ever in training camp.
His plan is to take two weeks off and then get back in the gym. He'll spend the first month away from the rink, but is planning on spending one day every week in Montreal, skating with Jonathan Huberdeau.
“I had 4½ months off, so I think for me I had too much time off this year, I just need to get back to work,” Pelletier said. “Big summer for me and it's going to be a big year for me for next year.”