{"id":129537,"date":"2025-09-08T20:08:09","date_gmt":"2025-09-08T20:08:09","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/129537\/"},"modified":"2025-09-08T20:08:09","modified_gmt":"2025-09-08T20:08:09","slug":"married-and-bulked-up-pettersson-hoping-to-turn-corner-for-canucks","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/129537\/","title":{"rendered":"Married and bulked up, Pettersson hoping to turn corner for Canucks"},"content":{"rendered":"

VANCOUVER \u2014 Those looking optimistically for an evolution in Elias Pettersson<\/a>\u2019s relationship with the public could point on Monday to his unsolicited declaration that he added \u201csix kilos\u201d to his lanky frame during summer training.<\/p>\n

Always one of his most touchy subjects, Pettersson\u2019s weight wouldn\u2019t have been volunteered previously even if he were standing on you. Adding 13 pounds of lean bulk, especially if it has strengthened Pettersson’s lower body, represents a huge change figuratively for the 26-year-old Swedish centre.<\/p>\n

It was good of him to reveal this during a polite media availability on Monday ahead of the Vancouver Canucks<\/a>\u2019 charity golf tournament at Northview in Surrey.<\/p>\n

On the other hand, it took a halting cross-examination from a reporter before Pettersson confirmed that he was married over the summer \u2014 after he failed to mention that tidbit when asked for the \u201chighlights\u201d of his off-season.<\/p>\n

\u201cI did get married,\u201d he conceded.<\/p>\n

Well, wasn\u2019t that one of the highlights?<\/p>\n

\u201cIt was the highlight,\u201d he finally said. \u201cBest day of my life, so it was good.\u201d<\/p>\n

Pettersson, of course, was already married, wedded to the Canucks with the $92.8-million contract he signed 18 months ago that was buttressed by a full no-movement clause that activated on July 1.<\/p>\n

So there are, potentially, seven more seasons of Pettersson in Vancouver, a time span equal to what he has already lived with the Canucks.<\/p>\n

As Pettersson prepares for Season 8, still a young man but certainly no longer a young hockey player, we should all stop expecting anything resembling warm and fuzzy from him. He is intensely private, sometimes uncommunicative or even hostile, and always wary of making himself vulnerable by revealing anything of himself.<\/p>\n

And that is fine. Honestly discussing how he feels would make him more relatable to the billions who do not play in the National Hockey League, but it is not an employment requisite.<\/p>\n

What Pettersson needs to do is play well, be dependable for teammates, and find a way to lead the Canucks on the ice. He needs to \u2014 and even he would agree \u2014 play a lot better than he did during his injury- and drama-plagued 2024-25 season that saw the highest-paid Canuck finish with 15 goals and 45 points in 64 games.<\/p>\n

\u201cObviously, I feel good,\u201d he said Monday of his preparation. \u201cIt’s been a long summer, so I just tried to add some muscles and be ready to be myself again out there. And I feel confidence that I will. I had a long summer of training, so it\u2019s been good.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cYeah, I mean, that’s in the past,\u201d he said. \u201cWe can all learn from it. I\u2019m just looking forward, excited for this year. Take it from there.\u201d<\/p>\n

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With J.T. Miller<\/a> traded in January to the New York Rangers, two years and a day after Bo Horvat was sent to the Islanders, Pettersson can\u2019t help but be a barometer for the Canucks\u2019 season.<\/p>\n

If he gets another 45 points, the team will almost certainly miss the playoffs again. But if Pettersson plays like a first-line centre, something close to the 102- or 89-point versions he was the previous two seasons, it exponentially increases the odds of the Canucks bouncing back if goalie Thatcher Demko<\/a> stays healthy and the Quinn Hughes<\/a>-led defence, upgraded by the Miller (Marcus Pettersson) and Horvat (Filip Hronek) trades, plays like one of the top five units in the NHL.<\/p>\n

Just like last season, Pettersson\u2019s play will tell us more than his mouth.<\/p>\n

\u201cWell, he’s competitive,\u201d veteran defenceman Tyler Myers said. \u201cWhen you’re around him every day, you can tell, just personally, he wasn’t happy with the way things went last year. And just being around him the last five or six years, he’s very competitive. So I know he’s coming in this year with a little bit of a chip on his shoulder.<\/p>\n

\u201cHe looks a lot different physically, even just this first week that we’ve been here. So I’m excited for him. Not even just for Petey, I think it’s important for everyone in the room to realize that everyone’s here for each other. And, you know, if one player needs to lean on another at any given time, we’re all there for each other. I’m excited for him. I’m excited for all the guys for… just the start this year.\u201d<\/p>\n

An underrated leader and part of the Canucks\u2019 conscience, Myers agreed that this season is a fresh start for everyone who struggled last year with their own problems or the team\u2019s or both.<\/p>\n

New head coach Adam Foote devoted much of his summer to reaching out to his leadership group and empowering them to set standards for each other.<\/p>\n

\u201cListen, it’s so simple,\u201d Foote explained to us in July, \u201cThey’re going to take care of each other because if I have to do it, I’m sure they’re not going to be too happy with that. It’s a good group; they care about each other.\u201d<\/p>\n

Soon after he\u00a0replaced Rick Tocchet, who left the Canucks as a free agent after the tumultuous season, Foote met Pettersson, Hughes and Demko in Detroit.<\/p>\n

Pettersson wasn\u2019t asked Monday about that extraordinary excursion in May.<\/p>\n

\u201cYou know, there was a lot that went on the last 18 months,\u201d Myers said. \u201cIn a way, for sure, you could look at it a little bit like a fresh start. I think it’s just important we keep growing the culture that we want to build here. What do we want our room to be like? What kind of team do we want to be on the ice and off?\u201d<\/p>\n

And who is going to lead them up front?<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"VANCOUVER \u2014 Those looking optimistically for an evolution in Elias Pettersson\u2019s relationship with the public could point on…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":129538,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[433],"tags":[49,48,448,82],"class_list":["post-129537","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-nhl","tag-ca","tag-canada","tag-nhl","tag-sports"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/129537","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=129537"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/129537\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/129538"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=129537"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=129537"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=129537"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}