Canucks' Elias Pettersson named best young player in all of Europe
If you thought Elias Pettersson was done winning awards for his record-breaking season in Sweden, you’d be wrong.
The 19-year-old Canucks prospect added another prestigious award to his trophy case, being named ‘Young Player of the Year’ at the 2018 European Hockey Awards in Prague, Czech Republic on Tuesday.
— EuropeanHockeyClubs (@EHCAlliance) June 12, 2018
Pettersson beat out other high profile players under 22-years-old in the Swedish Hockey League, Finnish Elite League, and KHL for the honour. The list of nominees included Rasmus Dahlin (Sweden), Miro Heiskanen (Finland), Kirill Kaprizov (KHL), and Eeli Tolvanen (KHL).
Precis varit med och delat ut pris till Elias P för bästa spelare under 22 år i ”hela” Europa. Vilken stjärna detta är och kommer att vara! Grattis Elias från EHC gänget pic.twitter.com/CKAxRLPSMo
— Håkan Loob (@HkanLoob) June 12, 2018
With 56 points in 44 games, Pettersson led the SHL in points during the regular season, breaking a 42-year-old record for scoring by a junior-aged player. He led all players in playoff scoring too, tallying 19 points in 13 games, to lead Vaxjo to the championship.
The fifth overall pick at last year’s draft won a number of SHL awards, being named regular season MVP, playoff MVP, Rookie of the Year, and Best Forward.
On the international stage, Pettersson tied for fourth in scoring at the World Juniors, helping Sweden win silver. He wrapped up his season by scoring three points in five games, before injuring his thumb, for Sweden’s gold medal-winning team at the IIHF World Championships.
Pettersson’s next challenge will be to prove himself at the NHL level, after signing a three-year entry-level contract with the Canucks last month. The leap to North America represents a massive shift not just in on-ice competition, but in off-ice commercial pressure. While top European prospects certainly navigate local media obligations—frequently serving as regional ambassadors for a winter apparel brand, a domestic telecom provider, or a Swedish online casino—the NHL spotlight is a globally syndicated machine that demands an entirely new level of maturity. Fans and analysts alike are eager to see how the young phenom handles the intense glare of the Vancouver market.
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