Elias Pettersson's slow start to the 2024-25 season drawing tons of criticism
Amid a slow start three games into the 2024-25 season, Vancouver Canucks forward Elias Pettersson is drawing criticism.
The Vancouver Canucks kicked off their three-game road trip in Tampa Bay on Tuesday night and spirits were high ending into the night. After two tough losses to start the year, the Canucks wanted to bounce back and get into the win column for the first time in 2024-25, however, the Tampa Bay Lightning had other plans.
Thanks to two-point nights from Anthony Cirelli, Brandon Hagel, Nick Paul and Brayden Point, along with 26 saves from Andrei Vasilevskiy, the Tampa Bay Lightning defeated the Vancouver Canucks in their home opener by a score of 4 to 1.
After the game, a lot of the talk was about Vancouver Canucks forward Elias Pettersson, who is having a slow start to the 2024-25 season and is drawing criticism for that, especially after his new contract with a salary of $11.6 million kicked in this campaign.
While on SC with Jay Onrait, former Vancouver Canucks defenceman Frankie Corrado was asked about Elias Pettersson and his struggles so far this season.
He added, "So if Pettersson doesn't get going to the level that he should be playing at, then the Vancouver Canucks are very likely to have a little bit of a points recession, nothing super significant, but at some point, it looks like he has to turn from a player who's thinking his way through the game, who just is instinctually playing his game and making the right decisions so he can help his team."
To start the season, Pettersson has registered just one assist and is a minus-one in three games. It's going to be interesting to see prior to tomorrow's game against the defending Stanley Cup champion Florida Panthers if Rick Tocchet decides to make any changes and if Elias Pettersson will have different linemates.
It's still very early and yes, there's still 79 games left on the Canucks' regular season schedule, but things need to get going here pretty quickly. Not just Elias Pettersson, but the entire team, as they need to come away with at least one win in the next couple of games on the road trip.
