Tocchet hails Pettersson's 200-foot game: 'He's not bucking the system'

Vancouver Canucks head coach Rick Tocchet has been impressed by the maturity of Elias Pettersson's two-way game through the first two contests of the 2023-24 campaign.

"I think he understands what it's going to take to win," he told reporters Monday. "Like the Sidney Crosbys of the world, Stevie Yzerman back in the day, Joe Sakic - those guys got their points, but they played a 200-foot game. They played situational hockey. I think he knows that. He's not bucking the system."

Pettersson's 0.88 expected goals against rate at five-on-five is the best on the squad so far this campaign, as is his 4.24 expected goals for clip, according to Evolving-Hockey. Those figures become even more impressive when taking into account the fact that they came against the high-octane Edmonton Oilers.

The Swede particularly stood out during the Canucks' 4-3 victory over the Oilers on Saturday, when Vancouver's Pacific Division rivals dominated play everywhere but the scoreboard. Pettersson got just under 11 minutes of ice time at five-on-five, and nine of those minutes were spent facing off against the Oilers' two-headed dragon of Leon Draisaitl and Connor McDavid, per Natural Stat Trick. Despite those tough assignments, the Canucks didn't surrender a goal at even strength with Pettersson off the bench. He saw 4:25 minutes on the penalty kill, as well as a little over three minutes on the power play.

Tocchet appreciates how malleable his star center has been to start the year.

"We were laughing, I told him he's played with every player on the team. ... He told the coach, 'I don't care,' which is nice," he said. "He's not bitching about it, he just wants to get on the ice in certain situations. ... And I think he enjoys that."

It isn't like Pettersson is shirking his offensive duties, either: He leads his teammates with six points in two games and was just named the NHL's 2nd Star of the Week as a result of his efforts.

Pettersson's two-way game took a big step in 2022-23. He posted a career-best 102 points and finished the season as a plus-16 on a struggling Canucks squad that owned a minus-22 goal differential.

The 24-year-old is in need of a new contract and he can become a restricted free agent with arbitration rights at the end of this campaign. In August, Pettersson said he put extension talks "on hold."

Next up for the Canucks is a clash against the Philadelphia Flyers on Tuesday as Vancouver pursues its third straight win of the campaign.