Elias Pettersson Opens Up About "How Sh*t I've Been" The Past 3 Months

It was quite the "noisy" season for the Vancouver Canucks' Elias Pettersson, as he puts it. From the months-long drama over contract talks (eventually leading to a massive new deal), a red-hot start and an ice-cold finish leading to a disappointing elimination from the playoffs in the second round, he's now looking forward to chilling for a while and getting away from all the madness.

Elias Pettersson says it will be nice to get away and refocus over the summer.

"It's been a noisy season in terms of the contract and how shit I've been the last few months." #Canucks @Sportsnet650
— Brendan Batchelor (@BatchHockey) May 23, 2024

"It will be nice to get a break from everything," said Pettersson in addressing the media. "It's been a noisy season in terms of the contract and how sh*t I've been the last three months."

His season was one of essentially two halves. Pettersson had 72 points in his first 55 games, then just 23 points in 40 games after that (regular season and playoffs).

But perhaps we also learned a bit about why he's been so "sh*t" in his own estimation over these past 40 games—he's been playing with a bad knee since January.

"The longer it went, the more pain I felt."

Elias Pettersson says he's been dealing with a nagging knee injury since January. pic.twitter.com/xSaQ4E0EqS
— Sportsnet (@Sportsnet) May 23, 2024

"The longer it went, the more pain I felt," Pettersson said about the nagging injury. At this point, he assures us that the issue doesn't require any surgical procedure this offseason, he just needs time to rest it.

Despite his second-half struggles, he was rewarded handsomely in March by the Canucks to the tune of a new eight-year, $92.8 million contract ($11.6M AAV) that runs until 2032.

He completed his season with 34 goals and 89 points with a plus/minus rating of +20. The Canucks were eliminated in Game 7 of the second round by the Edmonton Oilers.