Only four hockey players in the overseas NHL, and indeed in the whole world, have a higher salary than him. But you can’t tell on the ice. Elite Swedish center Elias Pettersson has been playing below his potential – so deep and so long it’s startling.
Since the great NHL lockout in the 2004/05 season, only 36 players have reached the hundred-point mark in one regular season, an average of not even two per year.
Vancouver jewel Pettersson is among the handful of centurions. In the spring of 2023, he finished with 102 points (39+63) from 80 games. He has just earned superstar status.
However, he has only three assists in six games this season, despite continuing to spend a lot of time in the game.
Normally, it wouldn’t be worth anyone’s attention, after all, every great has a weak week or two now and then. For Pettersson, however, it is a continuation of the unflattering trend from last season.
In total, the Swedish center scored only 14 points, including two goals, in the last 30 games, including the playoffs. He did not score a goal with an equal number of players on the ice for a hard to believe 37 games.
On the basis of the just-started eight-year contract that he signed during the course of last year, he occupies $11.6 million under the salary cap, clearly the most on the team and even more than other superstars David Pastrňák or Aleksander Barkov.
There is no obvious explanation as to why he died out at the age of 25, when he should be at the peak of his powers or still rising. He himself offered none, nor did Vancouver.
So speculation abounds.
Pettersson may still be limited by the knee that hurt him in January and forced him to train differently than usual in the summer. Or that he would lack better quality wings? Did he suffer under coach Rick Tocchet’s system? Or maybe he couldn’t handle the weight of the giant contract?
“The mystery only feeds the debate. Pettersson hasn’t resembled his productive and assertive self for a long time and no one understands why,” recently wrote the online daily The Athletic, but according to historical data, it is only a matter of time before the Swedish magician starts collecting points again by the handful.
It is not at all usual for a striker to shine for a long time at a young age, and then suddenly stop.
Journalist Frank Seravalli also predicts Pettersson’s rise. “I think he’ll be found sooner or later. But right now he’s completely lost,” he launched live on the Daily Faceoff website. “I think it’s all about confidence. When you see an NHL star player go on the counterattack and just backhand the puck toward the goal without trying to come up with anything, it’s weird. He seems hesitant to me, maybe even timid at times.”
In the current season, Pettersson already started in three different attacks, alongside Jake DeBrusk and Danton Heinen, who recently played with Pastrňák et al. in Boston.
In Vancouver’s last two performances, he commanded Nils Höglander and Conor Garland. He reached a defensible record of 0+2, but he is still waiting for a goal from a five-on-five game. 37 matches already.
