Canucks forward Elias Pettersson looking for answers after a really shaky start to the season
It's been a rough go of late for Vancouver Canucks forward Elias Pettersson, who was limited to just 26 games in 2020-21 and is yet to break double digits in points through his first 17 games of this season.
Pettersson has started much slower than he or the Canucks would have liked, notching just 3 goals and 9 points in 17 games this season, despite GM Jim Benning having made several bold moves to help bolster both the offensive group and the defensive group during the offseason.
The 23-year-old had high expectations for himself and his team this season, so for obvious reasons, he has not been happy with how things have gone so far this year. With high expectations comes a lot of pressure, and nobody puts more pressure on Pettersson than he does.
"I always put pressure on myself because I take pride in playing the best hockey to help this team win. Maybe I put too much pressure on me, but that's who I am. I want to be the best player I can be every game,"
Pettersson had stated on Friday that he feels as though he may be in his own head a little bit - overthinking things to try and find what he calls "the perfect play". That's one area where the young Swede hopes to improve in the coming weeks. He wants to simplify things.
One thing that may help to alleviate some of the pressure to try to get him going is that his assignment with the man-advantage has changed.
Per The Athletic's Thomas Drance, Travis Green has pulled Elias Pettersson off of PP1. It is anticipated that he will shift down to the team's second power play unit, where he can feast on other teams' 2nd PK units and hopefully build some confidence.
The Canucks will play host to the Winnipeg Jets, who will play the 2nd half of a back-to-back on Friday. Maybe an exhausted Jets group, who is slated to start backup Eric Comrie, will make for an easier out and perhaps even a bit of a stat-padding game for the rested Canucks in the 2nd game of a 3-game homestand.
| G | A | PTS | ||
| Kyle Connor | 1 | 1 | 2 | |
| Alex Tuch | 1 | 1 | 2 | |
| Owen Power | - | 2 | 2 | |
| Michael Bunting | 1 | - | 1 | |
| Drew Helleson | 1 | - | 1 | |
| Jirí Kulich | 1 | - | 1 | |
| Isac Lundestrom | 1 | - | 1 | |
| Vladislav Namestnikov | 1 | - | 1 | |
| Nino Niederreiter | 1 | - | 1 | |
| Gabriel Vilardi | 1 | - | 1 | |
| Jason Zucker | 1 | - | 1 | |
| Leo Carlsson | - | 1 | 1 | |
| Nikolaj Ehlers | - | 1 | 1 | |
| Ross Johnston | - | 1 | 1 | |
| Evgeni Malkin | - | 1 | 1 | |
| Josh Morrissey | - | 1 | 1 | |
| Cole Perfetti | - | 1 | 1 | |
| Bryan Rust | - | 1 | 1 | |
| Mark Scheifele | - | 1 | 1 | |
| Trevor Zegras | - | 1 | 1 | |
| Complete stats | ||||
| STANDINGS 2024-2025 | ||||||
TOP 10 | GP | W | L | OL | PTS | |
Jets | 20 | 17 | 3 | - | 34 | |
Wild | 19 | 13 | 3 | 3 | 29 | |
Hurricanes | 19 | 14 | 5 | - | 28 | |
Devils | 22 | 13 | 7 | 2 | 28 | |
Capitals | 19 | 13 | 5 | 1 | 27 | |
Golden Knights | 20 | 12 | 6 | 2 | 26 | |
Maple Leafs | 20 | 12 | 6 | 2 | 26 | |
Rangers | 18 | 12 | 5 | 1 | 25 | |
Panthers | 20 | 12 | 7 | 1 | 25 | |
Flames | 20 | 11 | 6 | 3 | 25 | |
| Conference | Cumulative | ||||||