Elias Pettersson signed the richest contract in Canucks history a few months back, and the way the end of his season played out, a target is now on his back.
Pettersson now has $11.6M reasons to go back to his old self, the Pettersson that scored 102 points in 2022-2023. On Canucks Army earlier, David Quadrelli stated, without hesitation, that Elias Pettersson would score 100 points in 2024-2025:
Pettersson's pace slowed down quite a bit towards the end of the season. He revealed during his year-end meeting that he'd been playing through a nagging knee injury-nothing too serious, but enough to affect his skating and confidence.
Regardless, Pettersson still scored 34 goals and 89 points in what was considered a bad second stretch by his standards. His playoff production was even worse; the Swede only managed six meagre points in 13 outings. Some say it was the injury; others say that Ilya Mikheyev and Nils Hoglander held him back from getting more points, and Patrik Allvin ensured we'd be getting to the bottom of this issue.
Pettersson getting the help he needs?
During the off-season, the Canucks went on to acquire the help they needed for Pettersson. Jake Debrusk has already been previewed and is expected to be Elias Pettersson's new linemate. The former Bruins have shown his scoring abilities and will benefit from playing against one of the league's best playmakers.
Allvin didn't stop there; he added Daniel Sprong and Danton Heinen, who could jeopardize Nils Hoglander's top-six. Rick Tocchet will have plenty of options to play alongside Pettersson, and if the Swede comes to Vancouver at 100%, it'd be hard not to side with Quadrelli on this one.
After these line-up changes, do you think Elias Pettersson will go on to surpass his personal high of 102 points?
