Vancouver Canucks forward Elias Pettersson has finally revealed what has been causing his decreased production during the second half of the season. The Canucks were eliminated at the hands of the Edmonton Oilers in Game 7 last week and Pettersson struggled for the majority of the postseason, which brought some injury speculation.
The star forward ranked third in team scoring with 89 points during the regular season behind Quinn Hughes and JT Miller, though his production was down from the 102 points he recorded a season ago.
According to the Swede himself in his exit interviews, he had been dealing with a knee injury since January. Despite this, he still managed to record 46 points in 46 games since the turn of the new year.
Elias Pettersson says he's been playing with a bad knee since January.
"The longer it went, the more pain I felt," Pettersson said.
Doesn't require any procedure this offseason, just time to rest. #Canucks
Rick Tocchet says Elias Pettersson had tendinitis. Says they discussed his status with the medical staff, but he never needed to be shut down or rested. #Canucks @Sportsnet650
He signed a massive eight year contract extension this season that sees him make an average of over $11-million annually, becoming one of the NHL's highest paid players.
His injury reveal comes just days after fellow star forward Brock Boeser was ruled out for the playoffs due to a blood clot in his leg. Both have been instrumental parts of this Canucks roster and their limitations/absence surely affected their playoff performance and ultimately contributed to their demise.
