Canucks’ Elias Pettersson is in an unimaginable 20-game slump originally appeared on The Sporting News. Add The Sporting News as a Preferred Source by clicking here.
Elias Pettersson can’t snap out of his slump.
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The Vancouver Canucks‘ supposedly star two-way center hasn’t scored a goal since January. It’s a span of 20 games.
Yes, Pettersson has been held without a goal for 20 consecutive games, spanning before the Olympic break, and he didn’t exactly contribute a bunch of Sweden at the Olympics, either.
Just in NHL action, though, it’s astounding. His last goal came on Jan. 13, when he scored both the night before and that day.
As far as the calendar goes, it’s been more than 60 days.
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Head coach Adam Foote spoke positive words to reporters about Pettersson’s approach, at least, but that hasn’t yet helped end the drought.
“He was out there today at 11:05 for an 11:30 practice working,” Foote said Sunday. “He was out there after working. He’s been on the bike after games riding. So he’s doing the work. He’s had the breakaway twice in OT (in Winnipeg and against Nashville). I was never a goal scorer, so I don’t know how it feels to go through that. I’m sure at times he feels like it weighs on him. When he’s moving his feet, he’s having success on the ice and he knows that. And he’s trying to keep reminding himself of that. Even at practice today, you saw when he practices his shot, in the first couple of drills, he was moving and he ripped a couple off the bar and in. Obviously, we want him to score, but I like the attitude of the work he’s putting in. He can just work until he gets through it.”
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Petterson is a potentially crucial part of where the Canucks go from here. Like it or not, they have him at $11.6 million per year through the 2031-32 season. It’s not an easy contract to move off of, but since they signed him to it a couple years ago, Pettersson has regressed, not improved.
Vancouver is in the middle of a rebuild, but to eventually make it out, Pettersson will have to be a key cog.
First, he’ll have to rediscover a scoring touch that has abandoned him for a couple of months.
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