Elias Pettersson says he was 'overthinking everything' for Vancouver Canucks last year
It was no secret for anyone watching the Vancouver Canucks last season that Elias Pettersson wasn’t exactly at his best throughout the year.
He had just 15 goals and 45 points in 64 games, both career lows in a year when he played at least half of the team’s games.
Everyone seemed to have their theories for exactly what was bugging the star forward: media coverage of a rift with J.T. Miller that ultimately saw the latter shipped out of town, an ongoing knee issue, or simply just a bit of bad luck.
For Pettersson, much of the down season could have been on the mental components of being a star athlete. In the first year of an eight-year, US$92.8 million contract, the Canucks star admitted that he might’ve been pushing himself in the wrong direction after the deal.
Speaking with Janne Bengtsson of NHL.com, Pettersson spoke of his struggles to get his season started off on the right foot last year.
“Maybe it was that early in the season I had the wrong attitude… that yes, ‘now I’ve signed a big contract and now I have to do more, instead of just being myself.’ And when the points didn’t come, I tended to start thinking and overthinking everything instead of just doing what I usually do,” Pettersson said in his native Swedish, translated into English.
Pettersson started the season with 26 points in his first 27 games, but began to hit a slide around Dec. 12. He was held pointless for six straight games, and saw a stretch where he had just three goals and one assist over a 15-game span.
Pettersson did finish with 10 points in his final nine games of the season, though his previous 10 games before that saw him put up just two points.
Pettersson also discussed how his offseason routine was impacted prior to the year due to the aforementioned knee issue.
“My game [last season] was obviously not at the level it was in the two seasons before that… I had a knee injury last summer, and that hindered a lot of my training then; it was hard to really train 100 per cent,” Pettersson said. “Now I’m just trying to look forward.”
Former Canucks head coach Rick Tocchet had shared similar comments about Pettersson at his end-of-season media availability.
“I think he’ll tell you this: his preparation has to get better. There’s no secret, if you want to be a great player, you have to prepare with almost an obsessive preparation,” Tocchet had said.
With Pettersson spending some time in Vancouver this offseason to work on his game, only time will tell what version of the star player the Canucks will get in 2025-26.
Sportsnet’s Elliotte Friedman explained earlier this offseason on the 32 Thoughts Podcast how an overseas flight went a long way for Canucks management.
“He came back from Sweden to meet with Adam Foote, when Adam Foote got hired (on May 14)… They took that as an investment into the team. They really like that he did that.”
- You might also like:
- 9 Abbotsford prospects with a chance to crack Vancouver Canucks roster