{"id":440068,"date":"2024-04-21T13:00:50","date_gmt":"2024-04-21T17:00:50","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/hockey\/?p=440068"},"modified":"2024-04-21T12:50:30","modified_gmt":"2024-04-21T16:50:30","slug":"three-canucks-questions-heading-into-first-round-series","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/hockey\/2024\/04\/21\/three-canucks-questions-heading-into-first-round-series\/","title":{"rendered":"Three Canucks Questions Heading Into First Round Series"},"content":{"rendered":"

It is an exciting time to be a\u00a0<\/span>Vancouver Canucks<\/span><\/a> fan. After over a decade of darkness, the light has shone. People are walking the streets of Vancouver wearing Canucks gear proudly, car flags are flying again,\u00a0<\/span>and<\/span> the city is buzzing. After a regular season that defied expectations, the Pacific Division champions will make the 2024 NHL Stanley Cup Playoffs mark their first playoff game in front of their fans in nine years. Standing in the Canucks way is the Nashville Predators<\/a>. <\/span>No opponent should be taken<\/span>\u00a0lightly\u00a0<\/span>and<\/span>\u00a0while the Canucks should win this series, hockey\u00a0<\/span>is not played<\/span>\u00a0on paper. Here are three Canucks questions heading into their first-round series against Nashville.<\/span><\/p>\n

Three Canucks Questions #1: Will the Real Elias Pettersson Please Stand Up?<\/h3>\n

Out of all the three Canucks questions, it feels like this is the biggest one. First\u00a0<\/span>of all<\/span>, this needs to\u00a0<\/span>be addressed<\/span>: Elias Pettersson did not have a bad season. Yes, he did not reach the 100-point plateau\u00a0<\/span>and<\/span>\u00a0yes, there have been games where he looked\u00a0<\/span>completely<\/span>\u00a0invisible. That is especially true for the second half of the season. Since the All-Star break,\u00a0<\/span>Pettersson has been held pointless in 16 out of the 33 games\u00a0<\/span>as<\/span>\u00a0TSN’s Farhan Lalji stated on Friday’s Donnie & Dhali: The Team.<\/span><\/a>\u00a0In his last\u00a0<\/span>10<\/span>\u00a0games, he has four assists but just one goal.<\/span><\/p>\n

But Pettersson finished the regular season with 34 goals and 55 assists for 89 points. That was third on the Canucks and 19th overall in the NHL. That isn’t bad at all. Even the underlying numbers show Pettersson has been one of the best all-around players in the NHL this past season.<\/span><\/p>\n

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Elias Pettersson: one of the best players in the NHL<\/p>\n

He\u2019s good at literally everything so his total value builds nicely even without being in the top top tier of points producers <\/p>\n

(I think Miller would be on here if not for negative PK value) pic.twitter.com\/rEYtxyulDk<\/a><\/p>\n

— Chester Ming (@ChesterM222) April 18, 2024<\/a><\/p><\/blockquote>\n