The Vancouver Canucks are currently missing their top two defencemen, Quinn Hughes and Filip Hronek. Since the beginning of the season, the Canucks defensive depth has been a concern with a lack of true top four defencemen and puck movers on the backend. Now, after losing their top two guys, there is a glaring hole in the team&#8217;s lineup.
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Since losing Quinn Hughes to injury, the Canucks are 1-2-1. Those losses came against the Calgary Flames, Seattle Kraken, and Nashville Predators who are below the Canucks in the standings. The Kraken loss is one that especially stands out, with the Canucks having blown a three-goal lead with under five minutes to go in the game. Costly turnovers made by some of the team&#8217;s defencemen led to Kraken goals, and there was an apparent lack of Quinn Hughes in overtime.
Here are the team&#8217;s most recent defence pairings:
<blockquote>Brisebois-Myers. 
Soucy-Juulsen. 
Forbort-Desharnais.</blockquote>
It seems like this could be the ideal time to slot Elias Pettersson (D-Petey) into the Canucks lineup and give him a taste of the NHL.
Since coming over to AHL from Sweden, the Canucks third round 80th overall draft pick in 2022 has adapted well to professional hockey in North America. Through 28 games with the Abbotsford Canucks, D-Petey has 11 points which is second among Abbotsford defencemen and has a plus-five rating – leading all defencemen on the team.
Pettersson has gotten the call to the NHL roster but has not seen any action. His playstyle and size would fit into how Head Coach Rick Tocchet likes his defenceman to play. D-Petey is listed at 6’3” and 209 lbs and is a physical defenceman who plays with a lot of poise. 
His size and physicality are a big part of why he’s been able to adapt from the pro game in Europe on the bigger ice to the pro game in the AHL. Not only can he play a physical style of hockey, but Petterson’s poise also helps him make smart plays, making him a solid puck mover. 
In the AHL, D-Petey has had success primarily when paired alongside Jett Woo or Mark Friedman, holding a plus-five rating with Woo and a plus-three rating with Friedman. Both Woo and Friedman are defensive-minded defencemen who also play a physical style of hockey. If his success with those two is any indicator as to who he should be paired up with in the NHL, Noah Juulsen might be Pettersson&#8217;s best partner if he were to be slotted into the lineup.
With Pettersson in the lineup, the Canucks&#8217; defence corps could look something like this:
<blockquote>Soucy-Myers
Forbort-Desharnais
Pettersson-Juulsen</blockquote>
Don’t get me wrong; that defence group does not look anything like a team hoping to contend for a Stanley Cup. If anything, it looks like a team vying for top prospects James Hagens or Matthew Schaefer. But considering the other options the club has for the time being, Pettersson may be able to give the team a youthful boost on the backend.
Pettersson, of course, is not going to be a replacement for Hughes or Hronek. That being said, now might be the time to give him his first opportunity to play NHL games and see where he’s at in his development. 
The club has done this with other players, such as Jonathan Lekkerimäki. Rewarding young prospects with short NHL stints for playing well in the minors. With how well Pettersson has played in the minors all season long, now might be the time to give that chance with the Vancouver Canucks.
The upcoming road trip against some of the higher-end teams in the league may cause the Canucks to steer away from giving Pettersson this opportunity, however with Seattle, Nashville and Montreal being the next three upcoming games, maybe the best chance to see where he’s at is that short three-game stint.
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Defenceman Elias Pettersson shoots the puck at the 2024 Young Stars Classic game between the Vancouver Canucks and Edmonton Oilers

The Vancouver Canucks are currently missing their top two defencemen, Quinn Hughes and Filip Hronek. Since the beginning of the season, the Canucks defensive depth has been a concern with a lack of true top four defencemen and puck movers on the backend. Now, after losing their top two guys, there is a glaring hole in the team's lineup.
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Since losing Quinn Hughes to injury, the Canucks are 1-2-1. Those losses came against the Calgary Flames, Seattle Kraken, and Nashville Predators who are below the Canucks in the standings. The Kraken loss is one that especially stands out, with the Canucks having blown a three-goal lead with under five minutes to go in the game. Costly turnovers made by some of the team's defencemen led to Kraken goals, and there was an apparent lack of Quinn Hughes in overtime.

Here are the team's most recent defence pairings:
<blockquote>Brisebois-Myers.
Soucy-Juulsen.
Forbort-Desharnais.</blockquote>
It seems like this could be the ideal time to slot Elias Pettersson (D-Petey) into the Canucks lineup and give him a taste of the NHL.

Since coming over to AHL from Sweden, the Canucks third round 80th overall draft pick in 2022 has adapted well to professional hockey in North America. Through 28 games with the Abbotsford Canucks, D-Petey has 11 points which is second among Abbotsford defencemen and has a plus-five rating – leading all defencemen on the team.

Pettersson has gotten the call to the NHL roster but has not seen any action. His playstyle and size would fit into how Head Coach Rick Tocchet likes his defenceman to play. D-Petey is listed at 6’3” and 209 lbs and is a physical defenceman who plays with a lot of poise. 

His size and physicality are a big part of why he’s been able to adapt from the pro game in Europe on the bigger ice to the pro game in the AHL. Not only can he play a physical style of hockey, but Petterson’s poise also helps him make smart plays, making him a solid puck mover. 

In the AHL, D-Petey has had success primarily when paired alongside Jett Woo or Mark Friedman, holding a plus-five rating with Woo and a plus-three rating with Friedman. Both Woo and Friedman are defensive-minded defencemen who also play a physical style of hockey. If his success with those two is any indicator as to who he should be paired up with in the NHL, Noah Juulsen might be Pettersson's best partner if he were to be slotted into the lineup.

With Pettersson in the lineup, the Canucks' defence corps could look something like this:
<blockquote>Soucy-Myers

Forbort-Desharnais

Pettersson-Juulsen</blockquote>
Don’t get me wrong; that defence group does not look anything like a team hoping to contend for a Stanley Cup. If anything, it looks like a team vying for top prospects James Hagens or Matthew Schaefer. But considering the other options the club has for the time being, Pettersson may be able to give the team a youthful boost on the backend.

Pettersson, of course, is not going to be a replacement for Hughes or Hronek. That being said, now might be the time to give him his first opportunity to play NHL games and see where he’s at in his development. 

The club has done this with other players, such as Jonathan Lekkerimäki. Rewarding young prospects with short NHL stints for playing well in the minors. With how well Pettersson has played in the minors all season long, now might be the time to give that chance with the Vancouver Canucks.

The upcoming road trip against some of the higher-end teams in the league may cause the Canucks to steer away from giving Pettersson this opportunity, however with Seattle, Nashville and Montreal being the next three upcoming games, maybe the best chance to see where he’s at is that short three-game stint.

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