The 2024-25 season was a rough one for the Vancouver Canucks, but there were still a few bright spots by the end of it. One of these was the remarkable rookie effort from defenceman Elias Pettersson.
The 21-year-old, who started his first North American season last year with the Abbotsford Canucks, made his NHL debut on January 25 against the Washington Capitals and stuck in Vancouver’s lineup virtually since then. Calm, cool, and collected, the defender demonstrated a confident tenacity not often seen in players his age. Because of this, he’s the current favourite to make Vancouver’s third-pairing on opening night.
“Everyone wants to play in the NHL, and that’s what I want,” he told The Hockey News after the second day of the Canucks’ Training Camp on Friday. “I think it's just great for the competition, for the practices, for the games.”
Last season was full of memorable moments for the younger Pettersson, who was also named to the AHL All-Star Challenge as a rookie, though he didn’t end up playing due to already being in Vancouver’s lineup for another game. He also scored his first NHL goal on April 5 against the Anaheim Ducks, and got in his first NHL fight on April 11 against Logan O’Connor of the Colorado Avalanche. Still, the defenceman insists that the biggest moments of that season were the first he’d ever experienced — his debuts.
“Always the debuts,” he said. “Debut in Abbotsford, debut up in Vancouver. A debut, you never forget those moments.”
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Vancouver’s off-season lasted a bit longer than the team would have wanted it to, with their final game being played on April 16. During the summer, Pettersson took the opportunity to learn from current NHLers such as Calgary Flames captain Mikael Backlund.
“He helped me, battling with him on one-on-ones — so hard — but I think it’s so good for me to play against such great players during the off-season.”
Vancouver Canucks 2025–26 Player Preview: Elias Pettersson (D) Welcome to The Hockey News - Vancouver Canucks site’s player preview series for the 2025–26 season. In these articles, we’ll preview the players who are expected to play for the Canucks in the 2025–26 season. Today, we’ll be looking at how rookie defenceman Elias Pettersson could perform in 2025–26.
The 2025-26 season will be quite different from last year, with one main change in the team being their coaching staff. Former assistant Adam Foote is now the head coach, and appears to be approaching things differently than former bench boss Rick Tocchet. The team appears more aggressive under he and new assistant coaches Kevin Dean, Brett McLean, and Scott Young. Pettersson worked with Foote last season, and will continue to learn under him now despite the coach having a different role.
“I learned so much. I’m still learning,” he explained. “Always some advice every practice, every game. Just really good for myself and for the team.”
Pettersson has learned lots, and will continue to learn even more, as he prepares to embark on what could possibly his first full NHL season.
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