Elias Pettersson’s path to the Canucks’ top four in 2026-27 starts with a simple truth: last season was messy, but it wasn’t all on him.
The 22-year-old defenceman took a step back in his 2025-26 sophomore season, and his numbers dipped across the board. Still, that downturn came in the middle of a rough year for Vancouver as a whole, and the environment around him got tougher.
The Canucks spent 42.8% of their time in their own end last season, which ranked 30th in the league. In Pettersson’s rookie year, that number was 41% and the club sat 17th.
His own defensive-zone time jumped too, from 37.7% in his first season to 43.4% in his second.
That extra time defending wasn’t ideal for a young blueliner, but it does help explain why his game looked different. At the same time, there were still signs that he was moving forward.
He became a regular on the penalty kill, his ice time climbed from 12:49 per game to 14:59, and he got into 70 games. Two seasons into his NHL career, it’s clear the Canucks see him as part of the long-term picture.
There’s also a pretty straightforward reason to expect better this time around: almost everything around him should be in better shape.
Vancouver moved on from Adam Foote behind the bench and brought in Manny Malhotra. The club also added two veteran defencemen, Jamie Oleksiak and Luke Schenn. Schenn is expected to play on the right side of Pettersson’s pairing and brings the kind of leadership and physical shutdown game that fits what Pettersson is trying to become.
The Canucks do not need Pettersson to be a puck-moving offensive defenceman. That job already belongs to Filip Hronek, while Zeev Buium and Tom Willander are also developing on the blue line. What Vancouver wants from Pettersson is much simpler and much more valuable: a hard-nosed, defensive-minded blueliner who can win battles and help close off the Canucks’ end.
That makes Schenn a useful example. He’s known for that exact style, and even if he’s in the later stage of his career, there’s value in Pettersson learning from him both on and off the ice. For a player entering his third season, that kind of influence could matter.
The workload should keep trending up too. Pettersson added 2:10 of ice time per game from his first NHL season to his second, and he’s now averaging 14:59.
He’s also just two games shy of 100 in the NHL. The next step would be more time on the penalty kill and another bump of about two minutes per night, which would put him around 17.
That would be a sign he’s earning more trust in tougher situations, which is really the point. He needs to build stamina, tighten up his defensive-zone game and prove he can handle more high-leverage minutes. Another small jump this season would set up a bigger one after that.
As things stand, Pettersson is projected to start on the bottom pair with Schenn, while Buium and Hronek form the top pair and Oleksiak and Willander make up the middle. Schenn won’t play every night, and Pettersson could also see time with Victor Mancini.
If things break right, though, there’s a lane for him to push higher. A strong 2026-27 season, combined with how Willander and Oleksiak perform together, could open the door for Pettersson to move up and potentially join the top four. The top pair with Hronek and Buium looks like a tough one to crack, but Pettersson has already spent most of his minutes on the left side of Hronek, and he also played on the left of Willander, where he seemed to fit better.
That kind of setup would let Vancouver keep developing its young players in bigger roles while leaning on the veterans for the heavier defensive lifting.
The other side of the coin is obvious enough: if Pettersson repeats last season, that would be a disappointment. Sophomore slumps happen, even to players like Connor Bedard, but the Canucks have made enough changes this offseason that there’s little reason to expect another step back.
Malhotra has a reputation for developing players, and he already worked with Pettersson during his time with the Abbotsford Canucks in 2024-25. Schenn, meanwhile, gives him a veteran model to study.
For Pettersson, the formula is pretty clear. Get stronger.
Get nastier. Get more reliable in the defensive zone.
Earn the coaches’ trust in pressure moments. If he does that, the Canucks may not just have a bounce-back season from him - they may have a real candidate to climb into the top four.
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