It’s no secret that Elias Pettersson didn’t have the best start to last season. After rehabilitating a wrist injury, missing training camp due to a lost contract and experimenting with new sticks, the young Swede had just 17 points in 34 competitions through December. Pettersson finished the year strong with 68 points, but he knows better than anyone that he is capable of much more.
He also doesn’t want his wrist injury or racquet change to be used as an excuse for his slow start.
On Tuesday morning he spoke about his struggles over the last year.
“I didn’t play as confident as I always did,” Pettersson told reporters. “So with all the answers in hand – it sucks that it happened, but I’m also glad it happened because I’ve had experience with it and moved away from it.”
Pettersson then reflected on the year it was.
“I mean, we can be honest, my start last season wasn’t where I wanted to start. And I was just – I grew from it and learned why it happened and why I had the second half of the season, why I played like that.
“It was basically two different mes out there and I just played with a lot more confidence in the second half. So I’m kinda glad I went through that because I know how I got out of there if that makes sense.”
Still, saying he’s learned is different than showing he’s learned. Pettersson will want to avoid a start like last season this time and he worked hard on that over the summer.
“I’ve had a good summer workout, didn’t really go on vacation,” he said after looking sharp while skating in the morning. “I’ve just been training all summer and trying to prepare as best as I can… I’ve been feeling good and I’m just trying to get back to normal habits to play properly.”
“I always try to take steps every season and I just feel like I’ve matured a lot since last season.”
With no contract dispute to weigh him down, Pettersson was able to reflect on how the expectations surrounding his $7.35 million deal were influencing his focus. “I came in, expectations were even higher than they should be,” he said after missing training camp. “But I just focused on the wrong things, what people want me to see instead of just focusing on myself.”
“I don’t have an exact answer as to why it happened, but I like to think I’ve learned from it.
“I learned a lot last season that no matter how well I played the first two seasons, I have to have the same hunger,” added Pettersson. “At the start of last season I was training harder but I just let things get into my head.
“For me, it’s always trying to get stronger faster.”
It should help that he’s had a full off-season to rest and prepare, as well as completing a training camp that will give the Swede a chance to jump into the season. Routine is something many athletes stick to and disrupting it last season seemed to have affected Pettersson’s performance early on.
His return to Vancouver, reuniting with his teammates and coach has also fueled belief that this is a playoff team.
“We know how well we’ve played since Bruce came in and how close we came to making the playoffs,” Petterson said of seeing familiar faces and skating with his team. “I’m happy here.”
But perhaps where the team bond shines through most is his support for friend and teammate Brock Boeser, whose off-ice struggles with his father’s health dominated most of last season.
“That’s what friends do,” Pettersson claimed. “I can’t even imagine what he went through. Just shows how strong he is to still play the way he did through all this.
“I’m always there for him to support him, but he also does well on his own.”
With training camp just days away, Pettersson can’t wait to get back in action and hot out of the gates. “I’m super excited,” he said. “I trained hard in the summer. I try to prepare myself as well as possible.”
“I’m glad I’m finally here.”
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