Elias Pettersson cracked a joke Tuesday morning.

When the Vancouver Canucks centre was asked to advise rookie defenceman Tom Willander, whose NHL regular-season debut would be preceded by the traditional solo rookie lap at Rogers Arena , he offered up the following:

“Don’t fall,” chuckled Pettersson. “Just go out and have fun, play your game, and don’t be afraid to make mistakes.”

Read what you want into that but it was somewhat refreshing.

For Pettersson, addressing the media has often been akin to going to the dentist for a root canal. Speaking in a scrum is not his strongest suit — and it seldom brings out the best in any player as opposed to a candid 1-on-1 interview — but Pettersson is getting better and slowly becoming more engaging and forthcoming.

The relationship between

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