The Vancouver Canucks’ rebuild puts a spotlight on Elias Pettersson, and there’s no way around it: they need him to look like the player who once carried all that star power.
Pettersson signed an eight-year, $92.80 million contract in March 2024, a deal that pays him $11.6 million a year. At the time, it came after a 2023-24 season in which he scored 34 goals and finished with 89 points.
The year before that, he put up 39 goals and 102 points. That’s the version of Pettersson the Canucks need back.
The last two seasons have been far less convincing. He posted 15 goals and 45 points in 2024-25, then 15 goals and 51 points in 2025-26.
He also missed time in both years, appearing in just 64 games and 74 games because of injuries. Upper- and lower-body issues, including a knee problem in 2024 and over the last couple of seasons, have clearly gotten in the way.
Even when he’s been available, Pettersson hasn’t looked like the same player who was chasing individual hardware a couple of seasons ago. That matters now more than ever, because Vancouver is no longer pretending to be on the verge of contending. The Canucks are rebuilding, and that means their highest-paid center has to carry a bigger load.
There were some small signs of progress last season. His point total climbed from 45 to 51, but the minus-10 to minus-30 swing told another part of the story.
That said, the Canucks’ problems went way beyond one player. The team finished with a minus-100 goal differential and ended 2025-26 last in the NHL.
The front office has already started reshaping the roster, adding Jamie Oleksiak and Luke Schenn. On offense, the Canucks will also get a full season of Marco Rossi, a player some have pointed to as a possible future first-line center.
For now, though, Pettersson sits at the top of the depth chart as Vancouver’s first-line center. That fits both his résumé and the size of his contract.
The hope is that the points keep trending in the right direction, because Pettersson has made it clear before that he wants to be playing meaningful hockey. “I mean, I’m not going to lie, it's hard.
Obviously, I want to battle, and I want to play in the playoffs. But we need to see what's best for our future and build long-term.”
If the Canucks are going to have any kind of competitive 2026-27 season, it won’t be about Pettersson alone. But it does begin with him.
He needs his confidence back, and he needs it to show up on the scoreboard. If he can get to at least 70 points, the rebuild starts to look a lot sturdier as the season unfolds.
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For the Canucks, the appeal goes beyond minutes on the ice. Schenns previous run with the club included a strong defensive pairing and a noticeable offensive bounce in the 2022-23 season, but this return is more about guidance than production. Vancouver wants its younger defenders to keep growing, and Schenn gives them a seasoned presence in the room while the organization sorts out how the rest of the back end will settle in. [Read more 🡒]