Not so long ago, Elias Pettersson was seen as one of the world’s best hockey players.
In what was a disastrous 2022-23 season for the Vancouver Canucks, it was the best of Pettersson’s career. He put up 39 goals and 63 assists for 102 points. The Swedish centre joined Pavel Bure, Alex Mogilny, Markus Naslund, the Sedin twins and JT Miller as the only Canucks to have 100-point seasons.
2023-24 was a season where a lot went right for Vancouver. They came out flying out of the gate and by the 2024 All-Star break, they were on top of the NHL standings. Pettersson of course, was lighting it up as he, Miller, Brock Boeser, Quinn Hughes Thatcher Demko and newly acquired Elias Lindholm were All-Stars. Pettersson was an All-Star for the fourth time in his career and was among the league leaders in points at the time.
But after that, he fell off. Pettersson hasn’t been the same since January of 2024. He did manage a respectable seven goals and 18 assists in the final 33 games of the 2023-24 regular season. However, he was a massive disappointment in the playoffs, with just one goal and five assists through two rounds.
Still, Pettersson had a solid 2023-24 season with 34 goals and 55 assists for 89 points in 82 games. As a result, the Swede got signed to the richest contract in Canucks history: An eight-year deal worth 92.8 million dollars with an AAV of 11.6 million dollars.
Flash forward to almost a year later, Pettersson is a shadow of his former self. He is putting up zeros across the board in most games, is shooting way less, and while he was never known for being fast, looks slower.
What in the world happened? Pettersson’s regression is very depressing.
Frustrations with Pettersson
Being the highest-paid player on the team comes with a lot of scrutiny. With’s Pettersson poor form, the criticism has come from all over the place: fans, media and even fans and media outside of Vancouver.
Fans have every right to be not happy with Pettersson. While he has always been a solid defensive player, there needs to be offence.
The 26-year-old has 11 goals and 24 assists for 35 points in 51 games this season. Pettersson is on pace for 15 goals and 36 assists for 51 points. Those would be career-low numbers.
The Canucks have been lacking offence, especially from their forwards.
Pettersson has been an offensive black hole and it is very frustrating to see him not put up points. Before, he would take over a game, even ones the Canucks were getting destroyed in. Now, it seems like he can’t take over a single shift.
It was nice to see Pettersson get a primary assist on Jake DeBrusk’s goal against Utah. Unfortunately, this skied breakaway pretty much sums up his season.
Canucks head coach Rick Tocchet spoke to Iain MacIntyre of Sportsnet after the 2-1 loss in Utah. Of course, he spoke about Pettersson.
“We’ve talked about he has to move his feet, and can’t double clutch (with the puck),” said Tocchet. “I think he’s waiting for something. I don’t know if it’s a lack of confidence in his shot, but as soon as he has room, he’s got to take it and . . . just got to blast it. I’d rather him just rip a puck right now. He’s not moving his feet. I thought today, some shifts he was moving his feet and it looked like we had some glimpses. But six-on-five there at the end, it’s the same thing, waiting. If he just takes three or four strides . . . I don’t know if it’s a mental block right now, all year, but he’s got to move his feet.”
Pettersson’s fall-off, especially in terms of shooting
As Tocchet mentioned, Pettersson looks very hesitant. Maybe it is a confidence thing, but he isn’t moving his feet. Speaking of confidence, it has been forever since we saw Pettersson rip the puck into the net.
According to MoneyPuck, Pettersson’s shooting percentage (in all situations) is at 7.4% this season, while his percentage of shots on net is at 62.8%. That is a fall off from last season’s 11.3% shooting percentage and 68.8% shots on net. The season before that, Pettersson had a 10% shooting percentage but 69% (nice) shots on net.
It is clear that there is a lack of confidence in Pettersson’s shot this season. He often misses the net, or the goaltender makes a save that isn’t too challenging.
The late Jason Botchford famously stated Pettersson needed to “do his dekes.” Before, he would try to dangle around players or try to make these crazy passes or score a highlight reel goal.
Look at this goal he scored last season against the New York Rangers. This feels like 1000 years ago.
Nowadays, Pettersson is a ghost out on the ice. A sighting of him is as rare as the Sasquatch at this point.
But in all seriousness, it does seem like Pettersson lacks the confidence. Or maybe there is something more?
Injuries and Excuses
Pettersson revealed after last season ended that he had been dealing with tendinitis in his knee since January. It also turns out he had to train around the injury as it was nagging.
Pettersson was also seen putting ice on his knee during the 4 Nations tournament.
It looks like he is wearing some sort of brace or protection on it.
Dating back to last season, there was a lot of debate on why Pettersson wasn’t producing. The linemates, his wrist, Tocchet’s system, his feud with Miller (traded to the Rangers on January 31) and his knee.
Pettersson also gave a very alarming comment when asked by MacIntyre about his confidence and if it was affecting his play.
“It’s more annoying dealing with the media,” he said.
Now it is possible he was trying to give a snarky comment, but this was not the time and place and it sounds very hostile. What also makes this comment from Pettersson alarming is that he has the “A” on his jersey. It is a bad look if one of the leaders on the team isn’t taking any accountability.
Vancouver is a tough market, as all Canadian markets are. The team always is under pressure no matter what and the Canucks highest-paid player is no exception.
Players are under the microscope in Vancouver, good or bad. Sure, the constant pressure can be annoying, but players have to deal with it.
The best exception is the Sedins. Early in their careers, the media and fans heavily criticized them. But what did they do? They didn’t let the noise get to them and put in the work. There is a reason why 22 and 33 hang in the rafters and they became the best players the Canucks ever had.
Speaking of the Sedins, Jason Brough of the Halford and Brough show on Sportnset 650 reported on Monday morning that Pettersson does not have a good relationship with them and “is a lone wolf and wants to figure it out on his own. (around 18:50 mark) Take this with a grain of salt, but if this is true, this is a massive red flag.
Honestly, listening and learning from two guys who overcame a lot of pressure and scrutiny and became Hockey Hall of Famers is a good idea. Sure, today’s world is different with social media from the early and mid-2000s but this alleged report isn’t a good look.
So what’s the solution? A trade? Probably not
Now how can the Canucks get Pettersson back to the player he once was? Well, they tried playing him with different wingers (perhaps he should play with Nils Höglander and Conor Garland more) and traded Miller.
So, is there another solution?
Pettersson has been brought up in trade rumours over the past few months. However, his value is at the lowest. It would also be extremely hard…actually impossible for the Canucks to win a Pettersson trade. There is no way they would get a better player than him in a deal. A Pettersson trade would likely look like the big deal that sent Jack Eichel to the Vegas Golden Knights from the Buffalo Sabres.
A fresh start elsewhere could rejuvenate Pettersson. But of course, he could regain his form and look even better on a different team and make the Canucks regret trading him.
There is another solution. It looks clear that he is dealing with an injury, so maybe it would be best to shut him down. Sure, the Canucks would lack even more centre depth and doing that would be like waving the white flag on the season. However, they are on pace for 91 points, which would barely be enough for the final wild-card spot. (The Washington Capitals made the playoffs with 91 points last season.) At this point, it is highly unlikely the Canucks do some damage in the playoffs, especially with uncertainty around Hughes and Demko’s injuries. (Though, Kevin Lankinen has done well between the posts and earned himself a big pay rise.)
For the sake of Pettersson’s career and the Canucks long-term outlook, that would probably be the best way to go. Pettersson would be given more time to recover and train, and he could hopefully get back to his best next season.
But it does seem like a risk to do that and expect Pettersson to come back looking world-class. However, trading him is a bigger risk and it could look like a bigger mistake than when they traded Cam Neely.
It is depressing to see the 26-year-old who looked like the future of the Canucks and the golden boy of Vancouver having fallen off so hard he became the whipping boy. It is unreasonable to think a player in his prime, who scored 102 points two seasons ago is finished. Pettersson can’t be finished, surely the player he once was is still there.
But he needs to prove he can and prove to everyone why the Canucks gave him 11.6 million dollars a year.
