Elias Pettersson entered last season in the ascendancy, coming off a career-high 102 points which put him in the top 10 in scoring in the NHL. He then started off the 2024-25 campaign even better, on course to set a new career high after 64 points in his first 49 games.
As a result, the Canucks had no issue rewarding Pettersson with a lucrative extension worth eight years and $92.8 million (USD), which makes him one of the highest-paid centres in the NHL. Then however, it all started to go wrong for the young star.
The 25-year-old only managed 31 points during his final 46 games of the season, including just six points in 13 playoff contests. A season of so much anticipation, turned into one of unfulfilled promise.
As questions arose about what went wrong, Pettersson appeared to provide some valuable insight during his end-of-season presser. He claimed he'd been dealing with a knee injury since January and the longer the issue went on, the more pain he felt.
How serious (or real) was the injury?
This would certainly explain the situation and would have been fine, except for one ever-so-small problem. The Canucks did not agree that there was any such issue.
In fact, according to Frank Seravalli of Daily Faceoff, the Canucks were surprised to hear Pettersson blame a knee injury as part of the reason for his drop in productivity as the season progressed. During an appearance on The Sekeres & Price Show, Seravalli claimed the Canucks believed the injury was overblown.
As much as this led to confusion about what had actually happened, what was clear, was that someone wasn't being entirely honest. Which side that is, isn't for us to say, but it is something that Canucks fans should be at least a little concerned about.
Pettersson now in a better place
While we may never entirely know for sure who was telling the truth or what happened, we are happy to report that it is now a thing of the past. At least if you listen to Pettersson himself.
Speaking to the media on Thursday on the first day of Canucks training camp, the four-time NHL All-Star providing an encouraging update on his health. As per Lachlan Irvine of Canucks Army, he said: "I had to train around my knee injury, but I feel great. We figured out a way to work around it. I don’t feel any pain in it now or after (the skates), it’s not a big thing, knee is fine."
Whether the knee injury was a real or perceived issue, this is certainly good news for Canucks fans to hear. In respect of the latter, even a perceived issue now being in the past is a positive, from a psychological perspective if nothing else.
Further, it sounds as if Pettersson is more determined that ever to show what he is truly capable of, whether it be to himself of others. He said: "I’m always my biggest critic and I’m never going to shy away if I play good or bad. Now I’m just accepting that it wasn’t my best hockey at the end of the year, but that’s in the past and I’m looking forward to this year… I’ve always got the biggest expectations for myself and that hasn’t changed."
This is an important season for the 2017 fifth overall draft pick. Although you can probably say the same every season moving forward given the size of his contract, with an average annual value of $11.6 million.
Regardless, if the Canucks are going to build on an encouraging 2023-24 season, Pettersson is going to be a key component. And be the sounds of it he's ready to go, with the issues of last season now a thing of the past.