Without the play of star rookie and Calder Trophy favourite Elias Pettersson, it’s safe to say the Vancouver Canucks wouldn’t be anywhere close to first place in the Pacific Division at this point of the season.
Through his first 13 career NHL games, Pettersson already has 10 goals and 17 points. He’d be in the scoring lead race if a head injury sustained via an ugly hit from Mike Matheson didn’t force Pettersson to miss six games.
The Canucks expected Pettersson to make some form of an impact in his rookie year, but few could have thought that he’d be averaging more than a point per game.