Vancouver Canucks: What to expect from Elias Pettersson next season

Vancouver Canucks star Elias Pettersson took the team by storm with his excellent rookie season, so what can we expect for an encore?

The Vancouver Canucks had some expectation for 19-year-old Elias Pettersson coming off of an unbelievable campaign in the SHL in the prior season. Pettersson broke many records playing alongside men in the Swedish Elite League in his post draft season.

Records such as points for a U-20 player in both regular season and playoffs, with 56 points in 44 games, and 19 in 13 playoff games. Pettersson also won several awards such as SHL MVP, SHL rookie of the year, Swedish forward of the year, and many others while leading his team to an SHL Championship, where he also was named MVP of the playoffs.

It was impossible to say that had little expectations heading into the 2018-2019 NHL season.

And yet, he smashed them.

This past season, Pettersson put up 28 goals, and 38 assists for a total of 66 points over 71 games in his rookie year. Had he not missed 11 games do to injuries, he would have put up even better numbers.

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Leading both Canucks and all rookies in goals, assists and points, Pettersson was unsurprisingly named a finalist for the Calder Trophy.

While Pettersson did finish with 66 points, a dry streak in his final 22 games where he had only 12 points prevented him finishing with over a point-per-game, in which he had sustained for majority of the season.

Looking at what to expect for the 2019-2020 season, it is reasonable to expect Pettersson to have a more steady point production, possibly even averaging more than a point-per-game.

Before his last 22 games, Pettersson had 54 points in 49 games, a pace that could have had him finishing with 78 points over his eventual 71 game season, and over a full 82 games, 90 points. This would have him finishing15th overall in league scoring.

A realistic expectation could be Pettersson achieving around 75-90 points over a full 82 games. If Pettersson does finish in that range, it would undoubtedly go down as a successful season for the young Swede. With general manager Jim Benning actively looking for another winger to play alongside both Pettersson and Brock Boeser, we could possibly see an even better production out of both forwards.

However, Canucks fans should not be disappointed if Pettersson does finish below the said prediction. They should simply be excited for another year of Pettersson and his world-class talents.

Could Pettersson break 35 goals or even hit 100 points? Or will we see him succumb to the “sophomore slump”? Let us know your predictions for Pettersson’s follow up season in the comments below.