LATEST | Elias Pettersson reveals why he missed the World Championship

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Cooper Godin
August 27, 2023 (10:06)

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After a career-year in the NHL by putting up 102 points in 80 games, Elias Pettersson had his sights on going to the IIHF World Championship to play for Sweden.

Ultimately, Pettersson wasn't able to participate at the tournament and Sweden went on to finish second in Group A in the preliminary round, but fell to the eventual bronze medalists, Latvia, in the quarterfinals.

In a recent interview with Swedish media outlet Aftonbladet, Pettersson opened up about why he missed the tournament.

Note the quotes in this story are translated from Swedish

"It came to the question of insurance. I wanted to play, but it didn't work out. That is what I can say." Pettersson said.

He went on to add, "I wanted to play for the Swedish people. I haven't played for Sweden since in Slovakia in 2019. Sometimes things happen that you don't want to happen.

I couldn't play without insurance. I don't know how many people realize that I'm going to sign a big contract where I'm going to make a lot of money. We came to the conclusion that it was an insurance issue, I don't want to comment too much on that."

Pettersson may have to wait a little longer before representing his country once again. If the Canucks don't make the playoffs next spring, he could play for Sweden at the World Championship in Czechia in May. But, the NHL and NHLPA are working on a best-on-best tournament for February 2025 and there's no doubt he'll be on Sweden's roster for that event.

Source: Aftonbladet