Elias Pettersson: Soaring in His Sophomore Season
By Chris Faber
December 13, 2025
It's incredible to think that a player just over 50 games into his NHL journey can already ignite such buzz. Young defenseman Elias Pettersson is doing just that, and fans are buzzing with excitement about his future.
Pettersson, at just 21 years old, is already showcasing significant growth from his rookie season, successfully avoiding the dreaded sophomore slump by playing to his strengths. Assistant coach Kevin Dean, who oversees the defense, is a huge fan of 'Junior.'
"He's resilient and competes fiercely. He does exactly what's asked of him, which is fantastic. He's also very coachable. We're working on a couple of areas with him consistently, and he's definitely improving," Dean said. "For him, it's all about repetition and getting more ice time, and some of that is on me. I'm really pleased with his game. He's played over 20 games this season, and he hasn't had many off nights, that's for sure."
This season, Pettersson has averaged 13:29 of ice time per game. He's also had two games where he's played over 20 minutes, including a career-high 21:05 on November 14th against the Carolina Hurricanes.
"I feel like I'm constantly improving. I want to get better with every game. Tom [Willander] and I talk about it a lot. We want the coaches to trust us. We're young, we're learning, and we're striving to get better every day," said Pettersson.
Pettersson enjoys having another young defenseman on the team with Tom Willander on the roster. The two Swedish defensemen have different styles of playing the position, but in terms of where they are in their young NHL careers, there is plenty in common.
The two young defensemen have played 61:49 of five-on-five ice time together this season, and in that time, they have been on the ice for five goals for and just two goals against.
"It's just fun for us to play together. We're young, and we want to earn that trust so they can play two young defensemen together out there. We just want to minimize mistakes and play hard, and we want to play more," said Pettersson about playing with Tom Willander.
Overall, Dean is thrilled with Pettersson's performance in his sophomore season. He's particularly impressed by the young defenseman's consistency and his unwavering focus on improvement. He also appreciates Pettersson's eagerness to add penalty killing to his skillset.
Pettersson is keen on getting more time on the shorthanded unit. The experience he's gaining in meetings and during games is helping him build confidence as a penalty-killer at the NHL level.
"I just want to keep getting better and develop into a solid defenseman who doesn't make many mistakes," said Pettersson. "I want to be tough to play against and be a player you can trust. So, I need to keep working hard every day."
As Pettersson gains more experience, Dean is excited to see where his game will go. He admires Pettersson's strength at such a young age, which he believes comes from his excellent skating skills.
"He's such a good skater, right? I think any player who's a good skater seems to be strong. It's just the way it is. He's an excellent skater. I think he's very strong when he initiates contact. I think he's going to get stronger when he is the one holding the puck," said Dean.
Pettersson has a lot of room for growth, but the experience and knowledge the 21-year-old is gaining this season will undoubtedly help him as he strives to build a long career as an NHL defenseman.
But here's where it gets controversial...
What do you think about the impact of young players on a team? Do you agree that Pettersson's skating ability is a key factor in his strength? Let me know in the comments!
