Canucks: 3 takeaways from Elias Pettersson’s 2019-20 season
For the second straight season, Elias Pettersson was the best player on the Vancouver Canucks. Here are three takeaways from his sophomore year.
For all of the Vancouver Canucks fans that feared the proverbial “sophomore slump” for Elias Pettersson this season, he didn’t have one. In fact, the 21-year-old Swede picked up right where he left off and continued to use his second pro season to build on his already promising career.
2019-20 was almost an identical season statistically for Petey. He played in three fewer games in the shortened season but mirrored his point total from a year ago. He scored 28 goals and had 66 points before the NHL, unfortunately, paused and later ended the regular season.
Quietly though, Pettersson was able to work out the kinks in his game (specifically his strength and size), round out things on the defensive side of the puck, and further improve his already strong possession numbers.
Maybe he didn’t wow the crowd quite as much as he did in year one but trust me, Pettersson’s efforts in becoming one of the world’s best athletes didn’t go unnoticed amongst the National Hockey League’s most elite superstars. Here are three of my biggest takeaways from his sophomore season.
Pettersson was healthy this year
As great as Pettersson was in his rookie season, he was easily hurt. Fans were a touch skeptical about his size from the start, but considering he was only 165 pounds at the time, that’s really not that hard to believe. And after seeing their star player throttled into the boards by Florida Panthers defender Mike Matherson, fans only grew more worried.
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Sick of being pushed around, Pettersson went to work in the offseason. Soon, September rolled around and he came back to training camp a Captain America look-alike. He added 12 pounds of muscle over the summer and rightfully took his place as the most in-shape roster player. He was clearly head and shoulders above everyone else. No more missing games.
The season began and Pettersson was back, only this time, Pettersson was bigger, faster, and stronger. He learned to anticipate a high impact hit in time to either get out of the way or position himself in a way that allowed him to absorb contact and quickly bounce back. In fact, Pettersson even grew capable of lashing out himself. The perfect example came in a game versus the LA Kings. Pettersson rocked Alec Martinez not once, but twice! You can watch it here.
A big moment for Pettersson came later in the season when he was viciously struck by a late hit from Boston Bruins blueliner, Matt Grzelcyk. It was brutally behind the play, and honestly quite dirty. The old Pettersson would have been down for the count from a hit like that, but the new Pettersson got back on the horse. Missing only the next game as a last-minute precaution set by Travis Green, the Alien returned to help carry his team into the play-in series they face now.
Pettersson gains possession
Pettersson’s added size made it a lot easier to hold onto the puck in year two with the Canucks. His Corsi For Percentage rose over four percent between seasons from a 51.4CF% last year to a 55.7CF% this year, and that’s purely incredible. Considering the massive jump in the attention he received from the opposition this year as opposed to last (now that his skill-level is public knowledge), you’d expect the numbers to drop or stay roughly the same.
Thanks to the addition of J.T. Miller, Dekey Pete and the Lotto Line took things to a whole nother level for the Vancouver Canucks. Despite nearly a 10% drop in offensive starts, Pettersson beat the odds and became one of this year’s best possession players. He may not have scored ten goals in the same amount of games, but his attention to perfecting the little things went a long way in how he controlled play.
With the ability to get the puck up ice to create scoring opportunities coming from Quinn Hughes, Pettersson was able to shift his focus to quietly get positioned and wait for his chance to strike. The attention Hughes was able to take away from Pettersson only helped the two become one of the NHL’s deadliest duo’s.
I’m not saying that Pettersson needed another elite player sharing the ice with him to help boost his numbers, but it doesn’t hurt to know that Hughes will be padding Pettersson’s stats for years to come. It all starts with gaining possession of the puck and keeping it.
Pettersson becomes back-to-back All-Star
Not too surprising, but Pettersson was once again an NHL All-Star. Being the first of three Canucks selected to represent the team at the 2020 ASG weekend, Pettersson edged out Hughes and Jacob Markstrom. Not to downplay the incredible year had by both Markstrom and Hughes, but it just goes to show you how quietly dominant Pettersson really was.
Up until the reveal of who was in, Hughes and Markstrom were arguably having a much more flashy campaign. Nonetheless, Pettersson got the nod for the second straight year and he headed off to St. Louis to show why he belonged there. Now I know the All-Star Weekend isn’t taken seriously amongst the players, but it’s still a great way to see how a player measures up.
Good to see Pettersson take another step in the right direction. Not appearing at this year’s event would have been a sign of a slip-up or step back. Thanks to the jaw-dropping play of Hughes and Markstrom, the spotlight dimmed a little over Pettersson’s post this year, but that never stopped him from getting back to the ASG and redeeming himself after a pour rookie showing last year.
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It’s the early signs of a winner. Pettersson considers himself a champion and he’ll continue to be an All-Star for the Canucks for years to come. He holds himself to such a high standard that you can come to expect him to be a shoo-in at the annual ASG weekend. He proved that this season by being the first man in on the Vancouver Canucks.