Has Canucks Center Elias Pettersson Met Expectations Throughout The First Quarter Of The 2025–26 Season?
Has Elias Pettersson met the expectations set upon him throughout the first quarter of the 2025–26 season?
It’s arguably the most-anticipated question that awaited the Vancouver Canucks heading into the 2025–26 season. No one had more weight placed on their shoulders than Pettersson in terms of what fans, media, management, and more expected from him to start the year. Some put him in the ballpark of averaging over a point per game pace; some had him continuing the rough stretch of play that saw him put up 45 points in 2024–25.
But has he lived up to peoples’ expectations?
That question, unfortunately, is up to what your individual hopes for him were. What I can show you, however, is what he’s done for the team up until this point — Game 22 of the season against the Dallas Stars. Take a look at his numbers and make your choice based on that.
Let’s start by setting some context in place. Pettersson was automatically slotted into the Canucks’ number one center spot, as Filip Chytil, Teddy Blueger, and Aatu Räty were expected to file in after him. There were no other centers within the Canucks’ depth chart that had the offensive ceiling that Pettersson does. Keep in mind that age aside, Pettersson also has the most NHL experience of these four centers — his 492 NHL games surpass both Chytil and Blueger’s totals. By default, he’s expected to put up the most points for his team.
Then, October 19 comes knocking. Chytil and Blueger both leave the game due to injuries, with neither having returned to the Canucks’ lineup since then. By this point in the season, it wasn’t as if Pettersson had broken out with a 20-point run in a six-game span (no one had, in fact). With Chytil and Blueger now bumped from the lineup, all of a sudden, it’s Pettersson who has the most experience in playing a shutdown center role at the NHL level.
By the eighth-game mark, Pettersson has only put up four points. He’s not even in the top-five on his team in shots on net, and he’s only scored a single goal in this span of time. Even so, some stats stick out: he leads all forwards in blocked shots with 17, he’s made 10 hits, and he’s taken 90 more faceoffs than the next Canucks center (Räty) with 158. The points aren’t showing up on the scoresheet, but it’s clear that he’s shouldering a good chunk of the team’s labour.
October 25 occurs. Vancouver loses 4–3 to a Montréal Canadiens team that capitalized on special teams in order to seal the deal. Pettersson factors into all three goals that the Canucks score, making this the 38th three-point night of his career. He walks away from this game with a final TOI count of 21:46 — his highest of the season at that point.
Since his three-point night against the Canadiens, Pettersson has only logged less than 20 minutes a night twice. His importance all across the ice has been paramount, especially for a player who is realistically coming into this role semi-new (with Bo Horvat and J.T. Miller around, Pettersson has never actually been the two-way guy). No Canucks forward has played more minutes than he has this season (425:28), blocked more shots than he has (45), or taken more faceoffs than he has (463). He has yet to reach the point per game mark, but is only three away from doing so as he currently has 19 points in 21 games and will play in his 22nd tonight. It’s not the same offensive output that many know him for from previous years, nor are all parts of his defensive game perfect, but all things considered, it’s pretty impressive.
Stats are important and all, but at the end of the day, the eye test tends to give a good indicator of where a person is at. Pettersson is back to shooting those lethal shots from the top of the faceoff dot and making the extra slick play to set up a teammate’s goal. It may not be as often as in the past, but the fact of the matter is that this element of his game has returned in some capacity. With more time to adjust to his new role, as well as some responsibilities slightly alleviated, things are bound to continue in a positive direction for Pettersson.
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