Elias Pettersson just can’t escape the spotlight, but before all the buzz, his squad, Sweden, took a tough hit in their opener. Sweden’s 4 Nations Face-Off journey didn’t exactly start with fireworks—it started with heartbreak. Canada won the match 4-3 in the overtime, with the decisive goal scored by Mitch Marner. Nathan MacKinnon opened the scoring for Canada only 56 seconds into the game with some help from Sidney Crosby. Brad Marchand then added a second one by putting in a loose puck and making it 2-0. Sweden tried to fight back and Jonas Brodin was able to score a goal on Jordan Binnington, but Mark Stone restored the three-goal lead with a one-timer with the help of Crosby.

Just when things looked bleak, Adrian Kempe and Joel Eriksson Ek scored to make it a draw again before Marner dashed their dreams in overtime. Now, as Sweden attempts to shrug off the sting, Elias Pettersson cannot seem to avoid controversy off the ice—and it’s not for his on-ice moves. With another big game looming, fans are buzzing about something unexpected surrounding the Swedish star.

Hockey fan Legorocks99 had some thoughts on Elias Pettersson’s first game at the 4 Nations Face-Off, and let’s just say, it wasn’t exactly a headline-worthy performance. “The first game of the Four Nations Face-Off tournament, we ended up seeing a very particular deployment… let’s just say for Elias Pettersson and his line,” they pointed out. Pettersson logged just 16 minutes and 32 seconds against Team Canada—making it the fourth-lowest ice time among all Swedish forwards. Meanwhile, Adrian Kempe, Joel Eriksson Ek, Filip Forsberg, Lucas Raymond, Rickard Rakell, Mika Zibanejad, and William Nylander all had more opportunities to rack up points.

And when it came to making an impact? Pettersson had one of Sweden’s only real dangerous chances, but it slipped away in a moment that had fans shaking their heads. “One of the only real dangerous chances that PD had to produce any sort of point production or whatever was quickly thwarted away,” Legorocks99 explained, noting that instead of capitalizing on a cross-crease opportunity, Pettersson sent the puck back to the point. Sure, maybe his teammate could’ve done more, but at the end of the day, “Pettersson was still the guy who pulled the trigger,” and that’s why he walked away without a single point in Sweden’s opener. Tough break, but hey, there’s still time to turn things around!

Well, what now? Sweden has a chance to get back on their feet, but it is not going to be an easy feat. In the next matches, they are expected to face Finland on February 15 at Bell Centre and the USA on February 17 at TD Garden. So, will Elias Pettersson recover from this slow start and start scoring goals? Only time will tell, but let’s just say, all eyes will be on him. And it is not only in 4 Nations Face-Off where his stats have been a little meh—his NHL stats haven’t exactly been screaming superstar lately either.

Different games, same story for Elias Pettersson?

It has been a tough year for Elias Pettersson, and in fact, it has not started today. It started as far back as February 2024. Sure, you can glance at his goals and assists and see the dip, but the real concern? Those sneaky advanced stats tell a deeper story. Tyson Cole of Canucks Army wrote a piece scrutinizing Pettersson’s numbers, and let’s just say, they’re not exactly screaming “superstar mode.” His skating speed? Dropped. His shooting percentage? Not what it used to be. The statistics do not deceive and they are already holding an enormous red flag.

In his 2022-23 season, Pettersson was a charging man, reaching an average top speed of 23.31 mph, which is more than most of the players and putting him in the 94th percentile. But now? He’s at 21.59 mph, below the league average and below the 50 percentiles. It does not end there. Even his shot which used to be lethal has been toned down a notch as well. The shooting percentage of 15.2% from two seasons ago, when he scored 39 goals out of 80 games? Well, it is now at 12%, which is only a little less than the league average.

But then again, the season is not yet over. There are still a few games in the schedule for Pettersson to turn things around and show that he is worth every penny of that $11.6 million. Vancouver needs him at his best—when Pettersson is performing the Canucks are winning. Therefore, will he reinvent the script and take the elite essence back? The time is running out and the attention is focused on him.