The Vancouver Canucks picked up a 2-1 victory over the league-leading Washington Capitals on Saturday night and it was a special night for defenceman Elias Pettersson, who made his NHL debut.
“It was a lot of fun, and I was just trying to enjoy the moment,” said Pettersson. “Yeah, I’m really happy.”
D-Petey, as he is called around the locker room, was selected in the third round of the 2022 NHL Entry Draft and played in eight AHL games last season. He has played in 36 AHL games this year and has one goal and twelve assists while eating up a ton of minutes on the penalty kill.
Before we began recording our interview, D-Petey asked about the result for the Abbotsford Canucks as they won their eighth game in a row with a 6-2 shellacking of the Tucson Roadrunners. No team is hotter in the AHL than Abbotsford and they travel to Coachella Valley for a Wednesday game to wrap up a three-game road trip before returning to the Abbotsford Centre on Friday.
Pettersson spoke about experiencing the NHL first-hand and the differences that he felt between the NHL and AHL.
“I mean, it’s different from down in the AHL, but yeah, think I fit in pretty good in my first couple of shifts. I think I grew into the game more and more, and just having these guys around you, it’s helped so much too. They talked a lot, and it helped me a lot. So yeah, it feels good to have them support me. It was a great game,” said Pettersson.
“It was fun to play at this level, this is where you want to play in and as I said before, I’m going to do everything to play here full-time one day. I learned that you have to be ready every shift. Tonight, I felt like I kept it pretty simple, but learned that you have to be ready to go on every shift.”
Pettersson gave credit to assistant coach Adam Foote for making him feel comfortable in the game plan and laying out the expectations for the 20-year-old defender.
Canucks’ captain Quinn Hughes spoke to the media following Saturday night’s game and gave a glowing review on Pettersson while being excited to see him continue to develop.
“He can skate, he’s got good size, [and is a] competitive, nice kid, and he’s going to play a long time,” said Hughes. “This is the start of hopefully a long career for him, and it’s not easy coming in with how the last couple of games have gone. I thought he did well, and especially a player like him, he is just going to continue to get better and better, and especially with Footy back there, the way he can propel guys’ development. He might pop sooner than you might think.”
Pettersson played 14 shifts for 10:37 of ice time and had two hits and a blocked shot in the game. He was on the ice for one goal scored and zero goals against.