After 15 games into the NHL season, Elias Pettersson of the Vancouver Canucks sits atop the NHL scoring lead with 25 points. He has emerged as a force. In just 15 games, he showcased his extraordinary offensive production and playmaking skills.
The Swedish center has been impressive; and, pushed out to an 82-game season, he’s on pace for 137 points. His previous best was last season with 102 points. He’s clearly one of the top NHL performers in the early stages of the season.
What the 25-year-old carries on his increasingly (every season) stronger frame is a remarkable blend of scoring ability, on-ice vision, and leadership. Pettersson has not only claimed the top spot in the NHL scoring list but he’s become a leader on a team that also has two other players in the top-four of NHL scoring (with both Quinn Hughes and JT Miller sitting with 23 points). The only outlier is the New York Rangers Artemi Panarin who has put up 24 points.
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In this post, I’ll share Pettersson’s season thus far and outline how he’s put up the leading scoring numbers in the NHL. Should he continue to do so, he’ll become a frontrunner for individual awards, notably the coveted Hart Trophy.
Pettersson Generates a Great Streak to Start the Season
Pettersson’s streak began with a power-play goal and three assists in his team’s surprising 8-1 win over the Edmonton Oilers on Oct. 11. In that game, he recorded four points (with a goal and three assists). This performance both set the tone for his outstanding run but also put the Canucks on the radar. At the time, most hockey fans (even from Vancouver) believed it was a bit of a one-off win over the vaunted Oilers whom many had picked to win the Stanley Cup.
It was the season’s second game that made hockey fans sit up and wonder how good both Pettersson and the Canucks might be. The Swedish center continued his offensive onslaught with two assists, but his Canucks went into Edmonton and actually won the second game of a back-to-back on Oct. 14 with a 4-3 victory. He now had put up a six-point total over two games.
In what might prove to be the Canucks’ turning point of the season and most important game, they were shut out by the Philadelphia Flyers by a score of 2-0. After that game, head coach Rick Tocchet called out his team as “soft.” The response could have been the catalyst for the start the Canucks have had.
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Pettersson added to his scoring on Oct. 19 against the Tampa Bay Lightning, as he recorded two assists in a 4-3 loss. Although the team was only 2-2 on the season, with this performance, he joined the company of fellow Swedes and long-time Canucks’ icons the Sedin twins as the only Vancouver players over the past 35 seasons to put up six or more assists in their first four games of the season.
After that loss, the Canucks went on a winning streak. On Oct. 21, Pettersson scored a goal and added an assist in a 5-3 win over the Florida Panthers. At this point, he was tied with Jack Hughes for the NHL scoring lead.
In back-to-back games, starting on Oct. 27, he put up two assists in a 5-0 shutout win over the St. Louis Blues and then added an assist in a 4-3 overtime loss to the New York Rangers. On Halloween night Oct. 31, he spooked the Predators with a hat trick as the Canucks beat them for the second time in a span of a week.
Pettersson Doesn’t Slow Down as November Begins
On Nov. 2, Pettersson picked up three assists in a 10-1 beat down of the San Jose Sharks. Then on Nov. 4 he scored a goal and added an assist in a 2-0 signature Canucks win over a strong Dallas Stars team. Two nights later, on Nov. 6, the Canucks beat the Oilers yet again 6-2. This time Pettersson added an assist with the man advantage. His personal point-producing streak was now at six straight games.
Pettersson’s streak hit seven games on Nov. 9 when he scored a goal and added two assists in a 5-2 win over the Ottawa Senators. Better yet, his Canucks had now picked up points in nine straight games with Pettersson leading the way. He had put up a total of five goals and 10 assists over an eight-game stretch.
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Finally, the Canucks’ success came to a screeching halt when they went to Toronto and lost a 5-2 decision on Hockey Night in Canada to the Maple Leafs on Nov. 11. However, Pettersson extended his point streak to eight games when he registered an assist.
That streak came to a halt on Nov. 12. Although the Canucks beat the Montreal Canadiens by a score of 5-2, Pettersson didn’t register a point.
Better Than Pettersson’s Streak, He’s Carrying the Team
As noted, Pettersson leads the league in scoring with 25 points in 15 games. In the early running for the NHL’s Hart Trophy, he’d receive a ton of support.
The Canucks are on a surprising 11-3-1 run to start the season, and Pettersson has been a linchpin in his team’s success. His offensive leadership has been instrumental in his team’s wins. He leads by example, both on and off the stats sheet. And, he’s elevated his individual performance and energized his team toward success.
Pettersson has become a catalyst for the team’s cohesion. His scoring epitomizes his valuable role as a star player in carrying a team to surprising new heights. Thus far, with just over one-fifth of the season gone, he’s the non-surprising leader of a surprising Canucks team that is headed for the postseason.
Unless there’s a huge crash-and-burn coming, who would have thought that when the season began?
