Vancouver Canucks superstar forward Elias Pettersson has looked like a shell of his formerly high-flying self to start the 2024-25 season. Through nine games, the 25-year-old Swede has just one goal, 14 shots on goal, and a career-worst 7.1% shooting percentage. And the latter statistic is especially concerning when you consider that Pettersson's career average shooting percentage is 16.5%.
It is also worth noting that the Canucks' power play has not been particularly good this season, and Pettersson is a key factor in their success and failures. Only one of his measly four points have come on the man advantage this season.
Those struggles came to a head in Wednesday night's embarrassing 6-0 shutout loss to the New Jersey Devils, when a viral clip surfaced of Pettersson double- and triple-clutching a wide open shot attempt on the power play, directing it right into the chest of his former Canucks teammate, Devils goalie Jacob Markstrom.
WIDEEEEEEEEE open…. $11.6 million right to the chest #Canucks
— Liam (@millerthegoat9) October 31, 2024
Elias Pettersson is not okay, beginning of last season or year before this puck is ripped into the top corner pic.twitter.com/iEDMzCEdgz
The clip of Pettersson, attached above (h/t @Millerthegoat9), shows Pettersson failing to cleanly corral an offensive zone faceoff won by the Canucks, pivoting sideways, stickhandling, and then shooting a weak, poorly placed shot into Markstrom's crest.
In that situation, you would typically find offensively oriented players like Pettersson prepared to shoot off the draw or skate into the open space before shooting, which the Devils allowed him to do almost freely. Frankly, it looks like a mental battle and perhaps a loss of confidence for Pettersson, who looked like a deer in headlights when receiving the puck in that position.
Other Canucks Players Struggling
As it stands, the former No. 5 overall pick from the 2017 NHL Draft is on pace to score just nine goals, 27 assists, and 36 points. If the Canucks want any chance at all of qualifying for the Stanley Cup playoffs this year, Pettersson will have to turn it around, and quickly.
The Canucks do not have a deep, elite defense, and the goaltending situation is a complete mess. Thatcher Demko has not returned from his injury yet, and Arturs Silovs is currently sporting the worst save percentage in the NHL. It's the Kevin Lankinen show in Vancouver right now, and that is not a good thing when you have Pettersson, who is making $11.6 million on the cap, J.T. Miller, Jake DeBrusk, Quinn Hughes, and Brock Boeser on your team.
Not every Canucks player has struggled equally, but the offense starts with and runs through Pettersson. He needs to drag his teammates into the fight, not vice versa. It's now up to Pettersson and Pettersson alone to change the direction of this conversation.