Pettersson spends summer gaining muscle and is “pumped” for upcoming season

It was a rookie season that will go down in Vancouver Canucks history for 20 year old Elias Pettersson. The slight Swede took the NHL by storm in his first season, scoring a remarkable 28 goals and 66 points in 71 games with the Canucks this past season and securing himself Calder Trophy distinction as the league's top rookie. Many of those points were recorded in magnificent fashion, as well.

Like this:

Or this:

Or this:

Unfortunately, Pettersson's rookie season was also mired by injury, as well. You may recall Pettersson missed some time after getting body slammed to the ice by Florida Panthers blueliner Mike Matheson.

This prompted cries from the Canucks fanbase that Pettersson was simply too small and not tough enough to be in the NHL yet. This is something the youngster has taken to heart as evidenced by his recent conversation with Chris Johnston. Check out these comments from Pettersson in Johnston's latest column for Sportsnet:

"It was my first year in the league and you just learn from it. Always have it back in your head that you want to play good even when you have a tough day."

"For me, I’m not the biggest guy out there, I don’t have the biggest muscles," he said. "So of course it takes a little more time for me to gain all those muscles, but I’m working on it. More conditioning, get better in shape and I made some progress this summer. And, yeah, I can’t wait for the season."

Not going to lie... I am so PUMPED for this upcoming season. Just the thought of what Pettersson can do as an encore is enough to give me goosebumps. Drop the puck!

To read Johnston's full interview with Pettersson, click below: