The 2018-19 NHL® season is well under way and its freshman class is already making a big impression with collectors throughout the world. As we approach the half-way mark, one rookie stands out from the rest of the pack and that is Elias Pettersson of the Vancouver Canucks.

Named the league’s Rookie of the Month for October and December, he has been off to an incredible start and he is already on the radar of collectors in the Vancouver area and beyond. While it is certain that will be a finalist for the Calder Trophy as Rookie of the Year, here are some additional reasons why you should be picking up his cards:

• Pettersson’s NHL debut on October 3, 2018 will go down as one of the best in Canucks history as he opened the scoring at 13:48 of the third period by breaking into the offensive zone and sniping the puck past Mike Smith of the Calgary Flames. Less than 2:00 into the third period that evening, he also helped set up Nikolay Goldobin’s goal which gave the Canucks a 2-0 lead before ultimately winning by a 5-2 margin.

• Vancouver’s rematch with the Flames three days later may have resulted in a loss, but Pettersson gave another fantastic effort. He fired five shots at Smith and connected on two of them. The first tally of the night took place during the opening stanza and the second period saw him score on the power play for the first time in addition to helping teammate Bo Horvat get another with the extra man.

• During his fifth career game on October 13, he scored on Florida Panthers netminder James Reimer before going down with an injury. He returned to action two weeks later against the Pittsburgh Penguins and quickly showed his early success was no fluke thanks to two goals while facing the Winnipeg Jets on October 29. He finished the month of October with 10 points over eight games.

• The Colorado Avalanche were victims of Pettersson’s first five-point performance on November 2. He scored twice that night on Philipp Grubbauer, including the tying goal that sent the contest into overtime. His first two helpers came on tallies by Brock Boeser and the third ensured a 7-6 victory as Derrick Pouliot scored on the power play with 0:22 left in extra time. One of the goals by Boeser came as Pettersson creatively banked the puck off the boards to him and it shocked fans and announcers alike.

• After being named the NHL’s Second Star of the Week, Pettersson hit the 10-goal plateau on November 6 as the Canucks sustained a road loss to the Detroit Red Wings. Watch them all!

• Pettersson’s next tally came in a big matchup with the surprising Montreal Canadiens on November 17 and he gave the Canucks a 2-1 lead on a third period power play. However, Vancouver narrowly fell that night by a 3-2 margin.

• While facing the Nashville Predators on December 6, Pettersson scored another winner and chipped in an assist. However, he was hardly finished piling on the points as he potted the difference maker and added four assists against the Louis Blues three days later. As a result, he became the sixth rookie to have multiple five point games since 1967-68 and was named the NHL’s First Star of the Week.

• As December continued, Pettersson scored two game-winning goals while battling the Edmonton Oilers and he kicked off 2019 in excellent fashion with his first career hat trick. Coming against the Ottawa Senators on January 2, it was capped in overtime and he was the seventh rookie to accomplish that feat since the extra period was reintroduced back in 1983-84. That last tally was also his seventh game-winner thus far in 2018-19, setting a club record for freshmen set by Pavel Bure in 1991-92. Presently, he sits two back from tying the league record for rookies (9) which is shared by Steve Larmer (1982-83) and Marek Svatos (2005-06). On top of all that, he was also named to the Pacific Division roster for the 2019 NHL All-Star Game!

• During his early teen years, Pettersson starred for the Timra IK organization in Sweden leading up to the end of the 2016-17 campaign. Scouts started to take notice of him in 2014-15 as he had junior Allsvenksan North-leading totals for goals, assists, points, and plus-minus.

• The 2015-16 season saw him play at multiple levels for Timra and he saw plenty of international action with Sweden. He helped his teammates to a silver medal at the Ivan Hlinka Memorial and had a similar result at the 2016 U-18 World Junior Championship.

• In the months leading up to the 2017 NHL Draft, Pettersson tore it up with Timra and led the Allsvenskan in assists by a junior player with 21 helpers to his credit. He also made his first appearance at the U-20 World Junior Championship. Due to his strong performances, the Canucks gladly called out his name with the fifth overall pick in the draft.

• Instead of jumping to the NHL right away, Pettersson remained in Sweden for one more season in order to prepare for the rigors of the North American game. He was named the SHL’s Forward of the Year, Rookie of the Year, and Player of the Year with the Vaxjo Lakers, earning league-leading 56 points over 44 games. On top of all that, he won postseason MVP honors!

• At the international level last season, Pettersson was busy as well. Not only did he win silver at the World Junior Championship, but he also made some contributions during Sweden’s run to gold at the Worlds.

The first cards of Pettersson in his Canucks uniform have started to arrive in the hands of collectors thanks to 2018-19 NHL Upper Deck Series One and they rank among the hottest in the hobby right now. In addition to his standard Young Guns card, he also shares the subset’s checklist with 2018 first overall draft pick Rasmus Dahlin of the Buffalo Sabres. Both of these cards have Exclusives (/100) and High Gloss (/10) parallels in addition to Clear Cut versions printed on PETG stock. The regular Young Guns card also has an oversized edition which can potentially pulled in specially-marked retail blasters.

As the 2018-19 campaign progresses, there will be plenty of opportunities to track down many more Pettersson cards in brands such as Black Diamond, Exquisite, Parkhurst and more.

Pettersson has also been featured on several Upper Deck Game Dated Moments cards that are available exclusively on UpperDeckePack.com.

He has also earned two Rookie of the Month e-Pack achievement cards for fans who have completed the entire Game Dated Moments sets for those months.

Collectors and dealers both love seeing his cards pulled and take to social media to share these hits!

Soon collectors will find more Pettersson content in Upper Deck NHL products like Trilogy, SP Game Used, and SPx. Some of these will have autographs or memorabilia, so now is as good a time as any to start a collection of this rising young star.

Stephen Laroche has been actively involved in the hockey collectibles industry in a variety of roles for nearly 20 years. In the past, he has been a writer and editor with Beckett Media and SLAM! Collectibles in addition to working as a trading card company executive and consultant. He is available for freelance work and can be contacted at [email protected].