Elias Pettersson makes his return to the Vancouver Canucks‘ lineup tonight as they get set to take on the San Jose Sharks in both teams’ return to action following the NHL’s Christmas break.

After Saturday’s morning skate, Pettersson met with reporters and confirmed that he’ll be back in the lineup for this evening’s game.

Pettersson has missed the Canucks’ last eight games and last played on December 5th, when the Canucks fell 5-1 to the Utah Mammoth. Pettersson says that when he took warmups the next day for the Canucks’ December 6th matchup with the Minnesota Wild, he knew his injury would keep him from playing. While Pettersson didn’t divulge exactly what was ailing him or when he sustained the injury, he did share that it caused him to feel pain when shooting the puck.

“There was a lot of pain trying to shoot the puck, but it feels good now,” said Pettersson, who admitted the injury held him out longer than he originally expected. “You can feel bad off the ice, but when you get on the ice, it feels better. But yeah I tried but it was too much pain.”

While there was some hope that Pettersson might return to the lineup during the club’s pre-break New York-area road trip, Pettersson only managed to practice with his teammates, who wrapped up their first post-Hughes road trip with four wins and one loss.

Over the entirety of Pettersson’s eight-game absence, the Canucks mustered five wins and three losses. Notably, the Canucks rattled off four straight victories following the trade that saw Quinn Hughes head to the Minnesota Wild. Pettersson was asked for his thoughts on the trade:

“I mean, Quinn is Quinn. We all know how good he is. It’s tough to lose him, a friend for a long time for me, but it’s a business at the end of the day. Just happy with the return we got, the players are looking good, so, yeah just turn the page and move forward.”

Overall, Pettersson says he’s pleased with what he’s seen from his team in his absence.

“I mean, the road trip was great. I think we played some good hockey, so we’ll just try to build on that. It’s been good. Obviously [there was] a big change since the last time I played, but the new guys have been looking good.”

Watch the full Pettersson media availability below!

And stay tuned for today’s edition of Scenes from Morning Skate, which will be published in the next hour!