How Elias Pettersson's Physical Edge Is Reinventing His Game With The Canucks

Vancouver Canucks center Elias Pettersson has looked like a new man to kick off the NHL's 2026-27 season. 

First, he's had a great start to the year in terms of offensive production, scoring two goals and six points in four games. That is significant because Pettersson's totals have been very disappointing in the last two years.

Last season, he scored 15 goals and 51 points in 74 contests. The year prior, he notched 15 goals and 45 points in 64 games. Those numbers came after the Swedish center recorded an 89- and 102-point campaign in consecutive seasons before that.

This season, it wasn't the same approach for Pettersson. He didn't continue to run with the same style of play since it hasn't worked for a couple of seasons now. 

Instead, he has completely reinvented his game, and it becomes more and more noticeable with each outing.

The biggest standout is how physical he's been for the Canucks. In his first four games, Pettersson has recorded 19 hits, averaging 4.75 per game. Not only does that lead his team, but as of Tuesday morning, that's only one behind his former teammate Kiefer Sherwood for the league lead.

Pettersson is known for what he can bring offensively and his skill while playing a relatively quiet game. He's hardly throwing his body around the ice and is usually a perimeter player. For him to be second in the NHL in hits is quite eye-opening and hard to ignore as a factor in getting him back up to speed scoring-wise.

Sure, hits don't directly translate to points on the board. It does, however, suggest there's an increased level of engagement and energy being brought on the ice, especially if Pettersson sets the tone physically early in a game.

At his current hitting rate over a complete 84-game schedule, he would reach around 400 hits. Yakov Trenin of the Minnesota Wild was the only player to record over 400 last season. While it's unlikely he maintains this pace, Pettersson hasn't even sniffed 100 hits in the last two years, so this could be a new layer of his game he's intent on adding.

When he scored 89 points in 2023-24 — the last season in which he scored to his expected ability — he made 125 hits and ranked fifth on the team in that category.

Getting physically engaged could be the answer to getting Pettersson back to the player he has been in the past. It's not easy for a player like Pettersson, at 27 years old and who saw success in the past playing a calmer style, to make a shift to a more physical player.

But all credit goes to him and the coaching staff that may have convinced him to add this to his game.

Because of it, the Canucks may see some more scoring than they expected from him this year.

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