100 points is nice, but Canucks' Pettersson really craves a playoff shot

ANAHEIM, Calif. – Elias Pettersson played this season in a different posture.

His head was high, his shoulders square, his weight balanced. He was more confident, stronger, ready to lead. And on the ice, he looked different, too.

As the Vancouver Canucks finish another disappointing season Thursday in Arizona, Pettersson is their first player from the team to crest 100 points since Daniel Sedin won the National Hockey League scoring title in 2011. Only five Canucks in 53 years have scored more points in a season.

Pettersson hit triple figures on Tuesday with two assists in Vancouver’s 3-2 win here against the Anaheim Ducks. He has 38 goals and 63 assists for 101 points in 79 games.

It has been a transformative season for the 24-year-old Swede, who elevated himself from merely excellent to world class, adding defensive chops to his gifted offensive game. He should get Selke Trophy votes. New coach Rick Tocchet also elevated him as a leader after captain Bo Horvat was traded in January, adding ‘A’s to jerseys worn by Pettersson and 23-year-old defenceman Quinn Hughes, who has also become an elite player.

This followed a tumultuous 2021-22 campaign that saw Pettersson, returning from a serious wrist injury, play so poorly in the first half that some in Canucks Nation actually suggested trading him. He then was one of the best players in the NHL in the second half and finished with 32 goals and 68 points, 47 of them over the final 37 games.

Last summer, Pettersson really did change his skating posture. Working with strength and skating coaches, he tilted his torso slightly forward but with his weight more centred over his skates. His stride is more compact, efficient.

The refinements made him more balanced, better able to change directions and react quickly without losing his centre of gravity. He is more agile, harder to knock off pucks.

“That was the idea,” he said in January.

Pettersson is a far more complete player now than a year ago, and believes he is still just untapping his full potential after five seasons in the NHL.

“Obviously, I'm happy with the points for myself,” he told Sportsnet earlier this week. “But I think it's just my overall game with the two-way (play) and being reliable at both ends and especially in the D zone. I've always taken pride in it and this year, I wanted to be even better at it.”

He is. But the Canucks aren’t.

To be fair, Vancouver’s defending has improved significantly under Tocchet, but the team is missing the playoffs a third straight year.

And that bothers Pettersson like it bothers all players. The objective, after all, is to win. All the changes he has made to become a better player were to help the Canucks succeed.

“I just want to play playoffs, and battle in the playoffs in Vancouver,” he said. “I've heard stories how the town gets crazy during playoffs time, so I want to experience that.

“Definitely, I would enjoy (this season) more. I mean, that's what we play for -- to play playoff games,  but it's another season when we're not making it. Of course, I'm happy the way I've been taking steps this year, but I would rather be in the playoffs.”

Denied a long-term contract two years ago by the Canucks’ salary-cap crunch under former general manager Jim Benning, Pettersson has one season left on a bridge deal paying him $7.35 million and is eligible this summer for a mega-extension. He could be the first Canuck with an eight-figure salary.

He said he will wait until the Canucks’ season officially ends before publicly discussing his future, but the organization under new GM Patrik Allvin is keen to secure its franchise cornerstone. Either Pettersson or Hughes is likely to be the team’s next captain.

“He's huge for us,” Tocchet said Monday. “He's a corner piece. We've got to, obviously, surround him with the right mentality and system. His next level is really to be a good leader for us. He's got to really take a step into that and I think he has. He's chipping away at that, inspiring teammates, being more outgoing with his teammates. But he's just been a pleasure to work with. He's a guy that wants to be better.”

In an interview last week with Sportsnet, Tocchet said players in Vancouver must learn to be uncomfortable because “you can't win being comfortable.” He also said accountability is a partnership with players and for the Canucks’ leadership group to take the team where it needs to go “there's going to be some painful stuff to get there.”

Pettersson said he agrees and is willing to be uncomfortable.

This means being uncomfortable on the ice doing the difficult things required to win, but also uncomfortable at times with coaches and teammates, holding others accountable but also accepting there may be demands on him to display the same.

“It's like being comfortable with (being) uncomfortable,” Pettersson said. “I think it comes with practice habits, and then it comes down to confidence. I think during games you can't think about what you're going to do; you've just got to react and play. You can't know what's going to happen in a game, like what shots you're going to get, what scoring chances you're going to get, where you're going to get the puck. You've just got to react and play fast. And that comes with instincts, comes with confidence, believing in your team and within yourself.”

“I think he realizes how much I'm a practice guy, and he has to set the pace in practice,” Tocchet said, citing comparisons like Sidney Crosby in Pittsburgh and Patrice Bergeron in Boston. “That's one thing that I think he understands now. He's got to be the first guy on the ice sometimes, and sometimes be able to lead our practice. That's the next level.”

Canuck winger Brock Boeser, one of Pettersson’s closest teammates, believes 100 points isn’t an end-point for his friend.

“You know, 100 points is a big goal, but I still don't think he's going to be satisfied after that,” Boeser said Tuesday. “I still think he wants to be up there with (Connor) McDavid and (Leon) Draisaitl. He's showing the type of season he can have, but I wouldn't put it past him to have an even better season. I think (his ceiling) goes higher for sure. I don't even know how high it could be.

“He just wants to win. Us guys that have been here for a while are sick of losing and want to make the playoffs. He's really driven to make the playoffs and be on a winning team. He wants to be this guy on a winning team.”