"It's Scary To Watch" - Ex-NHL Coach Call-Out Elias Pettersson's Lack of Competitiveness

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Cooper Godin
November 4, 2024 (9:53)

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A former National Hockey League head coach says he's shocked by the slow start to the 2024-25 campaign that Elias Pettersson has had.

There's no beating around the bush, it's been quite a slow start to the season for Vancouver Canucks forward Elias Pettersson and while everyone from the fan base and organization are confident in his ability to turn things around, it has shocked some people how he's played so far.

Through the Canucks' first ten games, Pettersson has just one goal and three assists, along with two penalty minutes and is a minus-two. Pettersson is shooting the puck a lot less, and advanced statistics prove that, with the velocity of his shot down significantly. In ten games, Pettersson has just 15 shots, an average of 1.5 per game. For comparison, through Vancouver's first ten games last season, Pettersson had 21 shots on goal.

Elias Pettersson's slow start shocks former NHL coach Doug MacLean

During an appearance on Kyper and Bourne late last week, Doug MacLean, a former NHL head coach with the Florida Panthers and Columbus Blue Jackets, spoke about how shocked he is to see Elias Pettersson going through this slow start.

"I don't know what's gone wrong with this kid. We can talk confidence, we can talk all these things, the contract, I mean, what is he, 11.3 million dollars? And right now, that's gonna hurt this team to try and build a team with that kind of dollars tied up in that kind of production. It's scary right now to watch how he's playing." MacLean said.

He added, "I can't believe that Pettersson wouldn't take a look at Hughes, how he plays the game and how he competes and how he wants to get better and how he wants to win, and you play lackluster the way Pettersson is right now. It's shocking to me. It really is."

Playing in a Canadian market brings a lot of added pressure to a player, but everyone knows what Elias Pettersson is capable of and everyone wants to see him return to that player he was during the 2022-23 season where he had 102 points.

Pettersson will look to turn things around starting tomorrow night as the Vancouver Canucks continue their California road trip in Anaheim against the Ducks.