Elias Pettersson reveals oblique injury kept him out for Canucks’ homestretch

Elias Pettersson missed the final 12 games of the Vancouver Canucks season with an undisclosed injury, which has now been disclosed.

During end of season media availabilities, Pettersson revealed that it was an oblique injury that forced him to exit during the Canucks’ March 22nd game against the New York Rangers and ultimately ended his season.

“It was an oblique injury. We were pushing to get back, and then [it] definitely took longer than we expected. But then when the season was over, we changed to preparing for next season and taking this time to do more work in the gym, etc.”

Pettersson also talked about his offseason training, saying he’s going to stick around in Vancouver for a bit longer before flying back to Sweden. He then reflected on some of his struggles this season, and gave some theories for why it was such a disappointing season for him in year one of his new contract.

“Obviously my play wasn’t to the standard I guess of what it was those two seasons… Obviously, I was dealing with a knee injury last offseason. That kind of stopped my training last summer. So it was hard to truly train 100% last summer. But with that being said, I’m just trying to look forward and it sucks we’re not playing still, but with that being said, I’m going to take this time to take advantage of the extra month of training to come in ready for next season.”

“I think early in the season, maybe I had a kind of the wrong mindset that, yes, I’ve signed a big contract and now I have to do more instead of just being me. And then when the points didn’t come, I tend to overthink.”

Pettersson finishes his 2024-25 campaign with 64 games played and career lows in both goals and assists.

*excluding 2020-21, when Pettersson played in just 26 games.