Player Discussion Elias Pettersson | The Forward. Not the defensemen.

[Felix the Cat Potvin]

I'll just say I was stunned at Pettersson's approach to the media at the start of the season (Paterson commented on it as well). It was like not a day had transpired from the end of last season. He seemed tired, irritated, and defensive from day one, acting as if the media were flies/vultures buzzing around his head, rather than part of the job description when you're being paid almost 12 million a year. This whole season, like he's done previously, his attitude seems to be "woe is me", rather than showing a sliver of fight, resolve, or at the least, some wit or insight into his play. Instead, he lies blatantly to the media ("I don't know why people are making **** up"), like a kid caught in the principle's office.

It's embarrassing how he's been called out for being "immature". I get that he's "shy" and "quiet", but at this point, he's 26-years old, not a kid anymore, though some people still want to treat him with kid gloves. It's bizarre, and such a contrast to the Sedins who grew as leaders and players every year. They lifted up their teammates, and probably had some personality conflicts with guys like Kesler or Torres that never came to the surface, rather than dragging the whole team down into a kindergarten playground showdown over who gets to use the slide.

 

[Bobby9]

Ahh. So he is unhappy and burnt out and NOT injured?

 

[F A N]

I'll just say I was stunned at Pettersson's approach to the media at the start of the season (Paterson commented on it as well). It was like not a day had transpired from the end of last season. He seemed tired, irritated, and defensive from day one, acting as if the media were flies/vultures buzzing around his head, rather than part of the job description when you're being paid almost 12 million a year. This whole season, like he's done previously, his attitude seems to be "woe is me", rather than showing a sliver of fight, resolve, or at the least, some wit or insight into his play. Instead, he lies blatantly to the media ("I don't know why people are making **** up"), like a kid caught in the principle's office.

It's embarrassing how he's been called out for being "immature". I get that he's "shy" and "quiet", but at this point, he's 26-years old, not a kid anymore, though some people still want to treat him with kid gloves. It's bizarre, and such a contrast to the Sedins who grew as leaders and players every year. They lifted up their teammates, and probably had some personality conflicts with guys like Kesler or Torres that never came to the surface, rather than dragging the whole team down into a kindergarten playground showdown over who gets to use the slide.

I watched his start of training camp interview (the one where he talked about his knee) and didn't get that impression at all. Thought he was polite and flashed some smiles along the way. I'm sure there are other interviews where he seemed tired and irritated, but that certainly wasn't the impression I got from watching his first interview back from the summer break.

 

[strattonius]

Some of you will think I'm a bigot or whatever but I'm having a hard time seeing how Pettersson isn't a giant wimp at this point.

We know JT Miller is a giant a-hole it's not to absolve him of the problems. For me it's not one or the other it's both right now.

 

[WiLBoY]

Pettersson is basically a red flag at this point. He isn't playing poorly because of JT Miller, he's just not that good.

Are you going to play poorly in the playoffs just because of another player? He doesn't even have the drive these days or the will to compete. All that just because of one player makes no sense.

 

[Lenny Levino]

Pettersson is basically a red flag at this point. He isn't playing poorly because of JT Miller, he's just not that good.

Are you going to play poorly in the playoffs just because of another player? He doesn't even have the drive these days or the will to compete. All that just because of one player makes no sense.

Don't agree. He's one of the players who competes the most right now. He plays like shit, yes, but at least he's trying.

Anyway we don't have any idea about what has transpired in the locker room. Lets wait until one of them is traded and more info comes out before we judge anyone (I'm not on either JT's or Petey's side here).

 

[ExarKun80]

Pettersson is basically a red flag at this point. He isn't playing poorly because of JT Miller, he's just not that good.

Are you going to play poorly in the playoffs just because of another player? He doesn't even have the drive these days or the will to compete. All that just because of one player makes no sense.

How the f*** is he just not good? Even with this slide he still is over PPG in 400 games. I know that scorring is up since 10 years ago but still you can't go from 90 pts to 50pts in a season at his age unless he has a serious injury or something happened behind the scenes. Since he's playing, the serious injury is off the table.

Miller is f***ing toxic and was tolerated in Vancouver because he produced but he produced with prime minutes and getting the best linemates. If you don't give him that he is a 40-50 pts toxic bomb like he was in NY and Tampa. As Torts likes to say: "he stinks up the place".

Personally, I'd trade Miller now and give Skinny another season to see if he recovers his productivity. If not trade him in the summer of 2026. You just can't keep a guy who had a conflict with Bo Horvat. To me, that was always a huge red flag since Horvat gets along with everyone.

 

[the big nobody]

Petey + 2025 2nd rounder to Boston for Lindholm (20% retained) + Zadorov.

Offer to bump the pick to a 1st rounder if they'll take Desharnais.

Boston gets a top line forward who's still young and hit 100 points just two seasons ago.

We get a project in Lindholm who could be good for 50-60 points a season with the right work by the coaching staff, and Zadorov who we never should've let go in the first place. The defense immediately improves to offset the loss of a first-line forward. We also get to keep J.T. and therefore Quinn Hughes. Cap hits are roughly even both ways. Finally, if Desharnais is included then we can trick Boston into thinking he's a project who could amount to a 4th/5th defenseman if they work him right.

 

[rypper]

Petey + 2025 2nd rounder to Boston for Lindholm (20% retained) + Zadorov.

Offer to bump the pick to a 1st rounder if they'll take Desharnais.

Boston gets a top line forward who's still young and hit 100 points just two seasons ago.

We get a project in Lindholm who could be good for 50-60 points a season with the right work by the coaching staff, and Zadorov who we never should've let go in the first place. The defense immediately improves to offset the loss of a first-line forward. We also get to keep J.T. and therefore Quinn Hughes. Cap hits are roughly even both ways. Finally, if Desharnais is included then we can trick Boston into thinking he's a project who could amount to a 4th/5th defenseman if they work him right.

This might be the worst proposal yet.

 

[Canuckle1970]

Petey + 2025 2nd rounder to Boston for Lindholm (20% retained) + Zadorov.

Offer to bump the pick to a 1st rounder if they'll take Desharnais.

Boston gets a top line forward who's still young and hit 100 points just two seasons ago.

We get a project in Lindholm who could be good for 50-60 points a season with the right work by the coaching staff, and Zadorov who we never should've let go in the first place. The defense immediately improves to offset the loss of a first-line forward. We also get to keep J.T. and therefore Quinn Hughes. Cap hits are roughly even both ways. Finally, if Desharnais is included then we can trick Boston into thinking he's a project who could amount to a 4th/5th defenseman if they work him right.

Zadorov has an NMC.

 

[the big nobody]

Zadorov has an NMC.

I'm sure he could be persuaded to waive it to come back here.

And I cannot emphasize enough that if trading J.T. means losing Quinn, its not even a question of who we drop: Petey.

 

[ExarKun80]

This might be the worst proposal yet.

Yep. We have a couple of fans here who would destroy the team worse than Jimbo if they'd have their way.

 

[racerjoe]

I'm sure he could be persuaded to waive it to come back here.

And I cannot emphasize enough that if trading J.T. means losing Quinn, its not even a question of who we drop: Petey.

Except that doesn’t seem to be the case, and that was still a terrible trade proposal

 

[the big nobody]

Except that doesn’t seem to be the case

This is one of the assumptions the proposal is predicted on. If we can keep both and restore team chemistry or if losing Miller doesn't mean losing Hughes, then of course it makes no sense.

 

[Raistlin]

Petey + 2025 2nd rounder to Boston for Lindholm (20% retained) + Zadorov.

Offer to bump the pick to a 1st rounder if they'll take Desharnais.

Boston gets a top line forward who's still young and hit 100 points just two seasons ago.

We get a project in Lindholm who could be good for 50-60 points a season with the right work by the coaching staff, and Zadorov who we never should've let go in the first place. The defense immediately improves to offset the loss of a first-line forward. We also get to keep J.T. and therefore Quinn Hughes. Cap hits are roughly even both ways. Finally, if Desharnais is included then we can trick Boston into thinking he's a project who could amount to a 4th/5th defenseman if they work him right.

its past bedtime.

 

[Cancuks]

I'm 99% certain if Pettersson is traded he'll bounce back and be a 100 point player again. That said, it won't be for us, even if Miller is dealt. They both need to go. Blow up the team, get as much cap space and picks as possible, offer sheet Bedard next season, and if Chicago matches then trade Hughes and start over.

 

[lawrence]

We have ex players who have been in that lock room saying Pettersson is immature and seems to be apart of the problem

who said this? quote? video? thanks.

 

[Ernie]

I'll just say I was stunned at Pettersson's approach to the media at the start of the season (Paterson commented on it as well). It was like not a day had transpired from the end of last season. He seemed tired, irritated, and defensive from day one, acting as if the media were flies/vultures buzzing around his head, rather than part of the job description when you're being paid almost 12 million a year. This whole season, like he's done previously, his attitude seems to be "woe is me", rather than showing a sliver of fight, resolve, or at the least, some wit or insight into his play. Instead, he lies blatantly to the media ("I don't know why people are making **** up"), like a kid caught in the principle's office.

It's embarrassing how he's been called out for being "immature". I get that he's "shy" and "quiet", but at this point, he's 26-years old, not a kid anymore, though some people still want to treat him with kid gloves. It's bizarre, and such a contrast to the Sedins who grew as leaders and players every year. They lifted up their teammates, and probably had some personality conflicts with guys like Kesler or Torres that never came to the surface, rather than dragging the whole team down into a kindergarten playground showdown over who gets to use the slide.

What? Can you provide some examples of this? The only press he did at the beginning of the season from what I can tell is his press conference, where he behaved the opposite of what you are saying.

It's amazing how people pull things out of thin air here to support their narratives.

 

[MarkusNaslund19]

Petey + 2025 2nd rounder to Boston for Lindholm (20% retained) + Zadorov.

Offer to bump the pick to a 1st rounder if they'll take Desharnais.

Boston gets a top line forward who's still young and hit 100 points just two seasons ago.

We get a project in Lindholm who could be good for 50-60 points a season with the right work by the coaching staff, and Zadorov who we never should've let go in the first place. The defense immediately improves to offset the loss of a first-line forward. We also get to keep J.T. and therefore Quinn Hughes. Cap hits are roughly even both ways. Finally, if Desharnais is included then we can trick Boston into thinking he's a project who could amount to a 4th/5th defenseman if they work him right.

This might be the worst proposal I have ever seen. Like, literally franchise destroying. You're...kidding, right?

 

[MarkusNaslund19]

I've said this before, but it feels like Petey and Miller are like a Rorschach ink blot test for a lot of people.

I would wager that a far far greater portion of those who want to dump Petey because he's not 'manly' like J.T. are the types who unironically use words like 'alpha' and 'high value male', than vice-versa.

The idea of dealing Petey right now is literally emotional drivel.

The Canucks have been bad and irrelevant for so long and then we had one good season and the playoffs of that season happened to be Petey's worst stretch. So many people can't forgive him for this as if it's his fault that it's been ten years of irrelevance.

Can you imagine an alternate universe where Petey is somehow airlifted onto Tampa last year and has a bad playoffs and they react all knee-jerk because he was bad for that stretch? No, you can't because they have recent success and wouldn't be all the way up in their feelings about 'how dare he take this from me?!'

I understand the emotional side of it. We are passionate fans and we deserve so so so much better than 90% of what Benning gave us.

But trading Petey because he isn't yelly or fighty, or because he had a bad stretch that you have placed 10 years of emotional pain onto is how a franchise destroys itself.

Remember the logic behind the Seguin trade?

Benning, who you all claim to hate, was literally in the board room that was filmed for Behind the B and in that room, after the 2013 playoffs where they lost in the finals and Seguin was bad.

An executive says "If Seguin gives us half of Kane, we have the Stanley Cup".

The bitterness in his voice makes it so clear that this is a bunch of mental midgets (Chiarelli, Benning, etc) acting out of emotion.

"How dare he take this from us?!?!"

And so they trade a young, emerging (younger than Petey, but also decidedly less proven) star for junk including our very own Loui Eriksson.

Because they're all up in their feelings.

We have to be adults and make the responsible choice which is to, I don't know, maybe keep the 26 year old elite two way player who is having a horrible year offensively, and seems to be struggling with injury and low confidence but is also having a borderline selke quality year defensively and has scored 100 points before and gone over a point a game as an underdog team in the playoffs as a 20 year old.

The people here who want to trade 2006 Pavel Datsyuk so that we can keep 2003 Keith Tkachuk are wrong in a way that history will show quickly.

And if our management makes a similarly myopic and emotional move (God forbid) then history will show them to be abject failures.

 

[Raistlin]

I've said this before, but it feels like Petey and Miller are like a Rorschach ink blot test for a lot of people.

I would wager that a far far greater portion of those who want to dump Petey because he's not 'manly' like J.T. are the types who unironically use words like 'alpha' and 'high value male', than vice-versa.

The idea of dealing Petey right now is literally emotional drivel.

The Canucks have been bad and irrelevant for so long and then we had one good season and the playoffs of that season happened to be Petey's worst stretch. So many people can't forgive him for this as if it's his fault that it's been ten years of irrelevance.

Can you imagine an alternate universe where Petey is somehow airlifted onto Tampa last year and has a bad playoffs and they react all knee-jerk because he was bad for that stretch? No, you can't because they have recent success and wouldn't be all the way up in their feelings about 'how dare he take this from me?!'

I understand the emotional side of it. We are passionate fans and we deserve so so so much better than 90% of what Benning gave us.

But trading Petey because he isn't yelly or fighty, or because he had a bad stretch that you have placed 10 years of emotional pain onto is how a franchise destroys itself.

Remember the logic behind the Seguin trade?

Benning, who you all claim to hate, was literally in the board room that was filmed for Behind the B and in that room, after the 2013 playoffs where they lost in the finals and Seguin was bad.

An executive says "If Seguin gives us half of Kane, we have the Stanley Cup".

The bitterness in his voice makes it so clear that this is a bunch of mental midgets (Chiarelli, Benning, etc) acting out of emotion.

"How dare he take this from us?!?!"

And so they trade a young, emerging (younger than Petey, but also decidedly less proven) star for junk including our very own Loui Eriksson.

Because they're all up in their feelings.

We have to be adults and make the responsible choice which is to, I don't know, maybe keep the 26 year old elite two way player who is having a horrible year offensively, and seems to be struggling with injury and low confidence but is also having a borderline selke quality year defensively and has scored 100 points before and gone over a point a game as an underdog team in the playoffs as a 20 year old.

The people here who want to trade 2006 Pavel Datsyuk so that we can keep 2003 Keith Tkachuk are wrong in a way that history will show quickly.

And if our management makes a similarly myopic and emotional move (God forbid) then history will show them to be abject failures.

While EP is not Hughes untouchable, what is the harm in trading Miller and observe how EP performs afterwards? THEN talk to Buffalo and whatnot if he's still not earning his contract. At this stage, with JR spelling everything out to the whole NHL, I believe Miller's trade to be addition by subtraction what Hughes and the room, the guy is just as volatile as nitro, that is way too high maintenence for anyone's taste. trade him for the best deal you can get.

Im not sure what "immaturity" these executives harp on about? EP's behaviour is just how kids his age behave, I wont be surprised that Bedard/Celebrini/Demidov etc... behave in a similar manner, video games over beer. I still remember how Hamilton was traded because he like museums.... Times have changed. EP is regarded around the league as a unicorn level asset for good reason, he should get a longer leash whether you like it or not.

 

[PuckMunchkin]

Is it Miller though? We have ex players who have been in that lock room saying Pettersson is immature and seems to be apart of the problem. I’m not on Pettersson or Millers side, probably at the point of trade them both given how childish this is.

Who?

 

[Ernie]

Then why isn't he on LTIR?

Because he's super tough and just plays through them without complaining.

 

[PuckMunchkin]

Ahh. So he is unhappy and burnt out and NOT injured?

NO.

He is evul and ruining Bobbis day on purpose.

 

[arttk]

Because he's super tough and just plays through them without complaining.

people mix up playing through injury vs performing through injury.

also people don't understand not all injuries are the same. some injuries is just annoying while some will hold you back because it is physically constraining.

i think the last injury you want any athlete to suffer through are achilles, knee, wrist, lower back and neck.
people see other players play through upper back injuries or broken bones in irrelevant areas and think SEE, HE CAN PERFORM EVEN THOUGH HE IS INJURED, yeah no f***ing shit, having injury that can simply be hidden through pain killers is different than having an injury where the body cannot give you the power you need. At the end of the day, these are athletes and the biggest differentiation between elite players and normal players are 90% physical. You take the physical part away from a top athlete and the skill and IQ gap is probably not great enough to make up for it. That's why you see players in the mid 30's fade out, it's not like they are less skilled or dumber, they are less physically capable and their skills/IQ cannot make up in a sporting environment where others are just faster and more powerful.