Elias Pettersson wins Calder Memorial Trophy

Las Vegas, Nevada - Vancouver Canucks forward Elias Pettersson was awarded the 2018-19 Calder Memorial Trophy, given annually to "the player selected as the most proficient in his first year of competition." The honour was announced on stage at the 2019 NHL Awards in Las Vegas.

Pettersson, 20, is the second Canuck to win the Calder Memorial Trophy, joining Pavel Bure who won the award in 1991-92. The Sundsvall, Sweden native had a record-breaking rookie campaign, leading the team in scoring with 66 points in 71 games, breaking the previous franchise rookie record of 60 points set by Ivan Hlinka (1981-82) and later matched by Pavel Bure (1991-92). His 66 points was also the third most points scored by a Swedish-born player 20 years of age or younger and tied him for seventh for most points scored by a Swedish-born player in their rookie season.

Pettersson led the Canucks and all NHL rookies in points (66), goals (28), assists (38), power play goals (10), power play points (22) and game-winning goals (7; new Canucks rookie single-season record). He represented the Canucks at the 2019 NHL All-Star Game, becoming the youngest Canucks player and just the third Canucks rookie (Dale Tallon, Brock Boeser) named to the honour.
Pettersson began his debut NHL season with 10 goals over his first 10 career games, becoming just the fifth player to do so outside of the NHL's inaugural season. The fifth overall selection at the 2017 NHL Entry Draft, Pettersson also became the sixth NHL rookie since 1967-68 to record multiple five-point outings in a single season (Dec. 9 at STL and Nov. 2 vs COL) and the first Canucks rookie to score a hat trick that included the overtime winner (Jan. 2 at OTT).