I think it's obvious he has some kind of lower body injury. Like you said, his skating ability is absolutely goosed. No separation or acceleration. And it affects his shooting because he can't really put much lower body rotation/leverage into it. That clip of him practicing one-timers was pretty revealing...he was hardly putting anything into them and mostly just whacking at the puck with his arms.
It looked more like that he was practicing hitting an open net off an easy one timer the day after (I think) missing an open net from a similar position. Not sure I'd read much more into it.
In terms of shooting, he both skated well and took a great wrister last game.
I said I would be very surprised if he wasn't injured, not that injuries explain away all of his struggles.
Most players have some injury at this time of year. That isn't exactly uncommon or surprising. Good players play through injuries and get good results. Now, ignoring that, on a balance of probabilities, I find it unlikely that Pettersson's injuries are the primary reason why he has been playing poorly since like February or whatever.
Sure there is. He doesn't move or shoot or attack with the puck like he normally does. He physically does not look like he does when he's on form. He's also 175 pounds and injury prone. If a guy doesn't look like he can move or shoot like he normally does that's a standard indicator of an injury.
As noted above, Pettersson skated well and had a great wrist shot last game on that one play. Again, I am not going to go through all the reasons why I think injuries are not the primary reason why he's playing poorly. I have already set them out in previous posts.
Boudreau doesn't have inside information on whether he's injured or not. Pettersson's linemates are not hidden secrets that only Boudreau can evaluate.
Boudreau does have inside information in terms of both Pettersson's mental resiliency and, more importantly, Pettersson's last slump. Again, if Pettersson was injured during his slump two years ago when Boudreau coached him, Boudreau absolutely would have brought this up when referencing that last slump rather than explaining that last slump as being a result of confidence. Boudreau said Pettersson was one of his favourite players in history, I think, and if there was an obvious injury excuse for his last slump, then of course Boudreau is going to mention that as being a factor for that last slump. And obviously if Bourdreau knew Pettersson was injured last slump and that was all or partly responsible for that last slump, he's going to raise injury as being a possibility for explaining this slump.
I just can't believe someone would favour unsubstantiated speculation of Pettersson being injured this slump, and last slump, over his former coach basically speaking exactly on this subject. And if Pettersson wasn't injured last slump, and could be bad for a few months at a time without injury (and again, Pettersson has expressly refuted the speculation that he was injured at that time), then isn't it far more likely that he also isn't injured this slump? If it happened previously, why couldn't it happen again? Plus, it explains why he hasn't missed any games due to injury over the past few months despite the Canucks having basically locked up a playoff spot over that time.
Again, Occam's razor.
I'm sure Boudreau is right and his confidence is low right now.
I will also be very surprised if he isn't injured right now and I don't buy the narrative at all that it's 100% an emotional issue. There is literally no one in the entire league close to his calibre and expectations who gets two 4th line anchors as their permanent wingers.
You are entitled to your opinion, but his former coach, who knows far more about Pettersson as a hockey player and person, and who has coached him through an eerily similar slump, disagrees. But if Bourdrea's opinion on this matter isn't going to change your opinion then I don't know what will.
*********************
As an aside, I love Pettersson. Loved the draft pick, love the player, and his personality doesn't bother me in the least. I am rooting for him and am sure he will turn it around just like he did with his last slump.