A preview of Canucks defenceman Elias Pettersson's 2026-27 season.
Welcome to The Hockey News - Vancouver Canucks site’s 2026–27 player preview article series. This series will outline the expectations for every player projected to play for the Canucks during the 2026–27 season. Today’s player is Canucks defenceman Elias Pettersson.
Pettersson’s 2025–26 Season
Pettersson was one of the most notable Canucks from the 2024–25 season, having made such a strong push for an NHL roster spot in his mid-January call-up that he ultimately took veteran Carson Soucy’s spot on Vancouver’s third-pairing by the 2025 Trade Deadline. His physical presence, confidence, and strong defending as a rookie stood out best.
2025–26 saw the defenceman continue to build on what he’d established in the prior season. Armed with a full-time roster spot, Pettersson skated in 70 games for Vancouver, putting up three goals and seven assists while averaging nearly 15 minutes played per game. This was all done despite many changes to Vancouver’s blueline throughout the season, including the subtraction of Quinn Hughes and Tyler Myers, as well as injuries to Derek Forbort, Victor Mancini, and Pierre-Olivier Joseph throughout the course of the year.
While he did retain a roster spot for the majority of the year, Pettersson did face some defensive struggles in 2025–26. He was sent back down to the Abbotsford Canucks as a result, though he only played in three AHL games in his time with Abbotsford.
Pettersson’s 2025–26 Letter Grade
For his efforts in the 2025–26 season, The Hockey News - Canucks site gave defenceman Elias Pettersson a B. While he did end up slightly struggling with his increase in minutes, the defenceman ultimately built on his development during a particularly chaotic year for a young Canucks team. With a more consistent D-core in 2026–27, featuring new veterans in Jamie Oleksiak and Luke Schenn, Pettersson will look to continue developing at the NHL level.
Pettersson’s 2026–27 Predictions
With the potential structure of Vancouver’s blueline being something along the lines of Zeev Buium with Filip Hronek on the Canucks’ top pair and Tom Willander and Oleksiak on the second, Pettersson will likely slot in beside Schenn on the third-pair. This isn’t an unfamiliar role for Pettersson, as the defenceman played all throughout Vancouver’s lineup in 2025–26.
An area that Pettersson may see more ice-time in is on the penalty-kill. Even with Hronek, Marcus Pettersson, and Tyler Myers playing for Vancouver throughout the year, Pettersson still ended up having the fourth-most penalty-killing minutes of Canucks defencemen in 2025–26 and second among blueliners still with the team. If Vancouver wants to help their young players develop through in-game situations, it’s likely that Pettersson will end up taking on more PK-minutes in 2026–27 than the 81:55 that he saw in 2025–26.
Bold prediction: Pettersson logs the second-most PK minutes of Canucks by the end of the 2026–27 season.
Apr 12, 2026; Anaheim, California, USA; Vancouver Canucks defenseman Elias Pettersson (25) skates with puck during the second period against the Anaheim Ducks at Honda Center. Mandatory Credit: Corinne Votaw-Imagn ImagesCanucks 2026–27 Player Previews:
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