THE DEFENCEMAN. THE DEFENCEMAN.
Elias Pettersson, the Vancouver Canucks’ prospect defenceman with the exact same name as the club’s 100-point producer and face of the franchise, has signed a three-year entry-level contract. GM Patrik Allvin made the announcement on Wednesday morning.
“We are very happy to have Elias sign with us as he takes another step forward in his hockey career,” said Allvin. “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 Canucks selected Pettersson in the third round of the 2022 NHL Entry Draft at 80th overall. Ever since, Pettersson has done nothing but raise his stock and his spot in the Canucks’ prospect pipeline. Pettersson came in at the number one spot of our most recent edition of the Canucks’ prospect rankings, which you can read here.
Here’s what CanucksArmy’s resident prospect expert Chris Faber had to say about Pettersson:
Pettersson was one of the four defenceman who were 18 or under on team Sweden at the most recent World Junior Championship and he will be relied upon to be a horse at next year’s tournament. He averaged just under 18 minutes a game over his seven games at the tournament and led Sweden in shorthanded ice time. The WJC was a good boost of confidence for Pettersson but he was feeling confident going into the tournament because of his strong play in the SHL in the weeks prior to coming over for the U20 international competition.
The first thing we liked during our viewings of Pettersson is his skating. For a guy his size, he is very fluid when skating backwards and does a good job of coming up the ice with momentum before making a decision on where to go with the puck. He is quick to get into the corners to chase down dump-ins and as he is skating, he is constantly evaluating the open ice around him and where he needs to go with the puck to get it out of his defensive zone as quickly as possible.
According to Rick Dhaliwal, the intention is for Pettersson to play in Sweden for one more year, but he will be in Vancouver this summer to train. Pettersson is not expected to join the AHL’s Abbotsford Canucks for game one of the Calder Cup Playoffs, which kick off tonight at the Abbotsford Centre.