Oh come on - we're really blaming Petey's poor play on our defenseman? This is a new hot (and bad) take
Actually, yes. Someone over on r/canucks looked up the data and showcased just how little
Pettersson plays with Hughes relative to their respective skill levels.
I highly recommend reading both their posts but the gist is Pettersson still has a 50.81%xGF away from Hughes while everyone else is at 40.73%xGF overall. In other words, Miller, Boeser and DeBrusk rely far more on Hughes than Pettersson does.
Put simply, getting a legitimate puck moving defenseman would do a world of good not just for Pettersson but the team as a whole because we wouldn't have to rely on Hughes for damn near everything.
That's the fundamental problem right now, and teams recognize it. Which is why they try boxing out Hughes more than any other player. You shut him down and it shuts us down.