Pontus Aberg taking advantage of his opportunity with the Ducks

Pontus Aberg’s time in the NHL since he was selected in the second round of the 2012 draft by the Nashville Predators can only be described as a rollercoaster.

Based on his play in the last week, though, the 25-year-old from Stockholm, Sweden is currently on a high. The offensive dynamo has always been commended for his prowess around the net and ability to be a game-breaker. Translating that skill to the NHL level consistently has been the issue for him, though.

Now with the Anaheim Ducks, it looks like Aberg might have figured things out and hockey fans are the ones that benefit the most. When he gets some time and space, there are few that are more fun to watch.

Aberg initially landed on highlight reels earlier this week for this jaw-dropping play against the San Jose Sharks.

Everything about this sequence of events is mesmerizing. First, you have to appreciate his effort in the neutral zone to steal the puck off of the stick of San Jose’s Kevin Labanc. Then, with the Sharks reeling, he uses his speed on the right wing to put Joakim Ryan, a relatively inexperienced defender, in a difficult position. Aberg cuts to the left after Ryan’s initial attempt at a poke-check and then swiftly cuts to the right. With Ryan screening him, San Jose’s netminder Martin Jones can’t react quickly enough and Aberg has an empty cage to deposit the puck into.

It’s a stunning tally, but it wasn’t his only one that night. Before his theatrics in the third, he snuck a shot past Jones on the short-side after drifting out of the corner with the puck on his stick.

Despite Aberg’s efforts, Anaheim would eventually lose the game in overtime; however, the crafty forward left the Honda Center with his first two-goal game in the 74th regular season contest of his NHL career.

He wasn’t done there though.

A couple of nights later, a very similar script unfolded. This time around, it was the Philadelphia Flyers visiting the Ducks. To kick things off, Aberg ripped a shot over the shoulder of Flyers’ goaltender Brian Elliott to knot the game at one early in the second period.

Then, just like against the Sharks, Aberg found the back of the net in the third period with Anaheim down one.

All told, he’s scored four goals on his last four shots and become one of the hottest players in the NHL as of late. It hasn’t been all sunshine and rainbows for Aberg, though. The journey to get to this point has been one of many obstacles, none bigger than himself.

The 25-year-old has logged far more action at the AHL level (205 games) than in the NHL (75), with the Predators and Edmonton Oilers organizations. He never found his legs with the former, and although he even looked like he might skate with Connor McDavid at one point, he couldn’t stick with the latter either. It took an injury to Corey Perry to earn Aberg his third NHL chance, this time with the Anaheim Ducks.

With Perry expected to be out for five months after knee surgery, the Ducks claimed Aberg off of waivers. Following a brief stint in the AHL, Aberg was recalled on Oct. 20. As he gained the trust of his coach Randy Carlyle, he saw more time on the team’s top line. That’s when his offensive success began.

Aberg has seen his ice time increase over the last few games and it looks like he has fit in nicely alongside Ryan Getzlaf and Rickard Rakell. With that has come time on the power play. Tuesday’s game against the Flyers was the first time that he played more than two minutes on the man advantage this season.

If the chemistry between Getzlaf, Rakell and himself continues to develop, this could be the year that Aberg proves that he is a full-time NHLer. His current strong play is great, but we’ll have to see how he responds when things cool off a bit.

The winger has certainly flashed potential and disappointed before.

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