Picture yourself as Elias Pettersson for a second.



It’s the start of the 2018-19 season and you’re a 19-year-old prodigy trying to get your feet wet in the NHL, adjusting to having less time and space on the smaller ice surface, and facing a gruelling 82-game schedule that sees you travelling over 60,000 kilometres over the year. You’re listed at 161 pounds heading into the toughest, fastest, most skilled hockey league in the world and everyone and their dog is questioning your size. The weight of an entire city more than 10 times bigger than your hometown rests on your shoulders as Canucks fans anticipate the next beacon of hope to guide them to the promised land after the departure of the Sedins.



Imagine — on top of all that — being asked to line up at a centre-ice position that you haven’t played regularly in over a year at any level, much less the NHL one.



Now imagine exploding out of the gate with 10 goals in your...