Let's say Pettersson is injured.
What exactly are we supposed to expect here?
That he just continues to play through injury, very clearly not on the level that he's shown before?
For how long exactly? For the rest of his career?
We just accept that this is his new norm?
Or alternatively, are we expecting him to get better? When? How? Does he need time to "play through" the injury and it will eventually go away? Does he need time off? Does he need surgery?
He signed for 93 million dollars. The organization has made a significant investment in him. I find it difficult to believe that nobody has asked these questions already.
If he was injured, surely they'd sit him out, get him surgery or at the very least announce publicly that he's playing through something and will get better over time.
So either the organization is legitimately incompetent, or he's not injured.
And frankly, whether he's injured or not isn't important, what's important is how does he get back to normal?
If he's injured, what's the path back to normal?
If he's not injured, what's the path back to normal?
Or is his current play over the past 70 games the new normal?