Elias Pettersson seemed to be hitting his peak as an elite NHL centre between 2022 and 2024.
His 102-point campaign in 2022-23 featured career-highs across the board, and he immediately followed that up with a point-per-game season in 2023-24 as the Vancouver Canucks played their way into the playoffs.
Since then, however, it’s been a slightly different story as his point-per-game totals the past two years have tumbled to career lows (0.70 and 0.69, respectively).
Despite his struggles and increased pressure from the market, Pettersson remains committed to the team that drafted him fifth overall in 2017.
“I like it here, this feels like home,” the Swede said during the Canucks’ year-end press conferences on Friday. “I signed here for a reason. We’re in a tough spot, where none of us are happy with the season.
“We’ve got good pieces here. So, just trying to build it up and try to build a good team.”
Pettersson added that he’s motivated this off-season to get back to the elite level of which he knows he’s capable.
“I want to be the best player out there, and obviously that hasn’t gone the way I wanted the last two seasons and a half,” he said. “Trying to change up my (training), see what felt good, what (didn’t feel) good. Change up my summer training and go from there.
“I know I have a lot of good hockey in me, and I haven’t shown it, but I’m confident in myself. But (I) will change up my training a little bit with certain things.”
Pettersson is in heading into the third of an eight-year, $92.8 million contract.
Demko on injury rehab: ‘Super excited for what’s ahead’
The Canucks played much of their season without No. 1 goaltender and all-star Thatcher Demko, but the 30-year-old San Diego, Calif., native hopes the bulk of his injury troubles are in the rearview mirror.
“I’m super excited for what’s ahead,” Demko said to reporters Friday. “Like I said, this (treatment) is going to address pretty much everything that I’ve dealt with in the past, and being able to kind of build it up from the ground up and start fresh is really exciting for me. I definitely have kind of a new sense of vigour in my approach going forward.”
Demko was shut down in January with a hip injury, the latest in a string of ailments that has prevented the goalie from playing more than 23 games in each of the past two seasons. He underwent surgery earlier this year, a decision Demko said was made in conjunction with Canucks medical staff and president of hockey operations Jim Rutherford.
“This last operation that I had is going to be the answer for all of that,” said Demko. “So it’s kind of like that one last time going through all of this, hopefully.
“Just some of the nagging stuff I had, you know, hopefully kind of dissipates and we’ve addressed the larger picture.”
Demko added that it’s been “tough” not being able to help the team as they slog through the rebuild, but that he’s “certainly looking forward” to returning next season and helping to take the next step.
Prior to being shut down on Jan. 10, Demko played 20 games with a 2.90 goals-against average and a .897 save percentage with one shutout.