The Vancouver Canucks will soon need to sign Elias Pettersson to a new contract but at least they signed Elias Pettersson to a new contract.
If the Canucks didn’t want ledes like the above, they never should have drafted defenceman Elias Pettersson in the third round of the 2022 NHL Entry Draft. The elder Elias Pettersson, who just put up 102 points this season, isn’t eligible for a contract extension until July 1, but the younger Elias Pettersson just signed his three-year, entry-level contract with the Canucks on Wednesday.
“We are very happy to have Elias sign with us as he takes another step forward in his hockey career," said Canucks general manager Patrik Allvin in a press release. "We really liked the year he had on the ice in both representing his country at the World Juniors and playing important minutes in the SHL. Our development team is excited about the opportunity to continue to work with him and create a stronger relationship and partnership, building upon his already strong desire to learn and compete.”
The 19-year-old defenceman plays a physical brand of defence, using his 6’3” frame to crunch opponents against the boards and box out forwards in front of the net. He pairs his size with above-average mobility to keep a tight gap through the neutral zone and prevent easy entries and he is adept at blocking shots in the defensive zone.
Beyond his solid defensive game, Pettersson showed at the World Juniors that he has an offensive dimension as well. He has a willingness to shoot the puck and a knack for dragging the puck to the middle of the ice to find a shooting lane through traffic.
Pettersson split his season between the under-20 Nationell league in Sweden and the SHL, where he played with former Canucks prospects Rodrigo Abols and Petrus Palmu on Örebro. He quickly established himself as too good for the Nationell league with 15 points in 14 games and played 43 games against men in the SHL.
While Pettersson generally played limited minutes with Örebero — he averaged 9:39 per game — and had just 7 points in 43 games, he handled himself well, with a 51% corsi that ranked second on the team, indicating that his team out-shot their opponents when he was on the ice at 5-on-5. At even-strength, Pettersson had the fifth-best goal differential on the team at plus-6.
ChekTV’s Rick Dhaliwal reports that the plan for Pettersson is to play one more season in Sweden, meaning his entry-level contract will slide a year. That means Pettersson will get his signing bonuses now, but the first year of his contract won’t kick in until the 2024-25 season.
While it will take some time for Pettersson to make his way to the NHL to confuse play-by-play announcers, he’s established himself as one of the Canucks’ top defensive prospects. The Canucks early commitment to an entry-level contract shows their level of belief in his game.
