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Canucks' Elias Pettersson off to one of the best starts of his career

Rob Williams
Rob Williams
|
Oct 9 2026, 10:41 pm
Canucks' Elias Pettersson off to one of the best starts of his career
James Guillory/Imagn Images

Is Elias Pettersson back?

Too early to tell, but it’s a question that will get louder if he keeps this up.

Entering this season, new Vancouver Canucks general manager Ryan Johnson took a different approach with Pettersson than his predecessor. Johnson wanted to remove expectations surrounding his highest-paid player, instead choosing to focus on providing a positive environment for him to operate in.

“I think Petey knows he’s in a safe place here, as far as people that have his back,” Johnson said last month, adding that Pettersson came to camp well prepared.

“We expect him to be a really happy hockey player… That’s my expectation. I don’t have points in mind. I don’t expect him to be the loudest guy in the room. Don’t expect him to overnight turn into an alpha. I just expect him to be exactly who he is.”

It has only been five games, but the plan seems to be working. Pettersson is off to one of the best starts to his nine-year career, with eight points (2-6-8) in five games, notching at least a goal or an assist in each one.

The enigmatic Swedish centre is in good company at the moment, tied for fifth in NHL scoring entering Friday.

pettersson scoring leaders canucks

Pretty good company for Petey. (NHL.com)

Pettersson has scored more points through the first five games of an NHL season just once before, in 2023-24. He also had eight points in five games during his rookie season in 2018-19.

As the chart shows below, he’s light-years ahead of how he started the past two seasons. It took him 10 games to notch eight points last season, and 14 games to get to that mark in 2024-25.

 

Pettersson has a point in every game, with five of them coming at even strength. He even has two power-play goals, which gets him halfway to last season’s total.

And how about the hits?

Pettersson entered Friday tied for second in the NHL with 21 hits, with only former teammate Kiefer Sherwood racking up more.

Looking beyond traditional stats, Pettersson has been on the ice for six goals-for and just two goals-against in 66:50 of five-on-five minutes. He also has the third-best expected goals-for percentage on the team, at 50.10.

At his best, Pettersson was one of the best two-way centres in the NHL. He had a rocket for a shot and the ability to beat defenders one-on-one with his incredible skill.

Time will tell if Pettersson can fully regain his former glory, but either way, through five games, this is as close to the best-case scenario that you could have reasonably drawn up.

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