Over the last two seasons, Elias Pettersson has shown everyone that he can be one of the best centermen in the National Hockey League, especially offensively, which is why he earned long-term contract extension with the Canucks that'll see him earn $11.6 million per year.
Despite dealing with injury issues in the second half of the 2023-24 campaign, Pettersson was able to finish the year above a point-per-game, registering 89 in 82 regular season games. While it was a decline from the 102 points he had in 2022-23, Pettersson still looked strong early on last season and is poised for another big year in 2024-25.
In a social media post on Saturday, the NHL Network shared a post of the top-ten even strength point leaders among centermen in the last two seasons and Elias Pettersson was mentioned on their list.
Pettersson came in at sixth on the NHL Network's list with 124 even strength points in the last two seasons. Ahead of Pettersson on the NHL Network's list are five of the best players in the league - Leon Draisaitl (5th - 129 points), Auston Matthews (4th - 134 points), Sidney Crosby (3rd - 137 points), Connor McDavid (2nd - 162 points) and Nathan MacKinnon (1st - 169 points).
With his knee injury behind him and no longer feeling the pressure of not having a contract extension, Elias Pettersson is in line to have a monster season for the Vancouver Canucks and will look to register his second 100-point year of his career. He'll have a pretty good chance at doing so, especially if he's put on a line with the Canucks' big free agent signing, Jake DeBrusk.
