What’s the story with Elias Pettersson?

[NotAVacuumSalesman]

I know it’s early in the season but Pettersson’s issue goes back to the second half of last season.

Maybe Canucks fans who’ve been following closely could give us the scope regarding Pettersson. Is he injured or not injured? If he’s injured why is he not on IR? If he’s healthy, why is his production low relative to his usual performance?

What’s your guy’s take with regards to Pettersson’s lack of production?

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[tyhee]

Sorry to say you're not likely to get a straightforward definitive answer from those of us on HF-Canucks.

At the media availability following the Canucks' elimination from the 2024 playoffs, Pettersson said he'd been dealing with tendonitis in the knee. Some will say he's hurting but not so much as to be unable to play, just so that it hampers his effectiveness. Some have suggested his knee is still bothering him but quite a few in the spring speculated that there could be a wrist problem.

Others, noting things like, for example, EP dithering with the puck instead of taking what used to be an excellent 1-timer, will suggest the problem is at least partly confidence or otherwise psychological.

 

[Davo Ikinzom]

He got the bag. Many such cases.

 

[Raistlin]

the last game was his best game, so hes trending in the right direction. If he doesnt perform in the next 2 games, at the 5gm mark, he will regret signing that big contract in a fishbowl city like Vancouver.

 

[credulous]

it's a monstars thing. you wouldn't get it

 

[Team_Spirit]

Guy say it's impossible it can be physical otherwise they would sit him.

Then they wonder why he plays scared and falls all over the place...

Brain injuries cannot be diagnosed

https://x.com/i/web/status/1789119203242385513

 

[eviohh26]

He's one of those guys that has high end talent and able to coast through a career on it. He seems to lack passion and f***s given.

 

[Jay26]

He got the bag. Many such cases.

Incorrect. This act with him predates the contract stuff. He showed signs of it in 2021-22.

Nobody really knows. Many people are very certain it's mental. It's glaringly obvious he's lacking confidence in a big way.

 

[Bobby9]

1) Physically he is not built for heavy playoff style hockey. He’s afraid to engage in physical play.

2) He displays very very poor body language. He’s sulking when things don’t go his way. Gives up on plays.

3) He has very poor balance and a weak core. He’s often found face down ass up on the ice.

4) He has v low intensity. He never drives play. He rarely takes over a game even though he has the skill too.

Very high skillled weak and weak minded player who Vancouver made their highest paid player.

Nightmare situation for Canucks fans including me.

 

[SeanMoneyHands]

Must still be injured. Maybe he wasn't able to make a full recovery in the off-season.

 

[Kshahdoo]

He's been missing Kuzmenko, it started when Vancouver traded Kuzy.

 

[TheDawnOfANewTage]

He got the bag. Many such cases.

Such a stupid, simplified narrative in pretty much every case.

1) Physically he is not built for heavy playoff style hockey. He’s afraid to engage in physical play.

2) He displays very very poor body language. He’s sulking when things don’t go his way. Gives up on plays.

3) He has very poor balance and a weak core. He’s often found face down ass up on the ice.

4) He has v low intensity. He never drives play. He rarely takes over a game even though he has the skill too.

Very high skillled weak and weak minded player who Vancouver made their highest paid player.

Nightmare situation for Canucks fans including me.

It’s much more this- he’s like a polished Laine, odd as that is to say. When he was feeling good it just came naturally. Then life and shit (and injuries) happen, and shit, how’d I have that success again? Lemme try.. this! Oh that was awful, we’ll do.. that! Oof, -1, am I thinking too much?

Tage is a goddamn rockstar, but he’s got a touch of the same thing- the game is a fine line between thinking/feeling, and seems some dudes lately have really gotten caught in the mentals of it all.

 

[lettuceAA]

He went up to an 87 Flex stick.

 

[Non Player Canadiens]

string bean?

 

[nowhereman]

You will get an answer somewhere between "he can do no wrong and it is injuries/linemates that are to blame" and he is "the most mentally fragile player in the NHL who frequently gives up on his team when things aren't going his way".

Who knows where things actually stand. As a Canucks fan, I really don't know. Not sure I've seen a more mercurial star since I've been following the NHL.

 

[Danarqhy]

Mental midget with a massive ego.

 

[Kryten]

You will get an answer somewhere between "he can do no wrong and it is injuries/linemates that are to blame" and he is "the most mentally fragile player in the NHL who frequently gives up on his team when things aren't going his way".

Who knows where things actually stand. As a Canucks fan, I really don't know. Not sure I've seen a more mercurial star since I've been following the NHL.

Hes an alien. He couldn’t skate when he had a wrist injury, now he cant shoot with a sore knee

 

[Turin]

Just throwing it out there and it's probably not the case, but I wonder if he really wanted to sign his contract. He sort of signed it under threat of being traded.

 

[Bobby9]

Just throwing it out there and it's probably not the case, but I wonder if he really wanted to sign his contract. He sort of signed it under threat of being traded.

I align w this. He was under a tremendous amount of pressure to sign it and may have just folded to the pressure and now is unhappy.

 

[PavelBure10]

I think it's all mental with Pettersson. I think he gets into his own head and loses all confidence with himself. Petey went from a guy who always wanted the puck to getting rid of the puck as soon as he touches it. He no longer wants it. Signing this long term 11.6 million contract probably made it worse, and now the pressure is breaking him. It's really upsetting to see a top 10 forward struggling so hard at the game he's so good at.

 

[Nogatco Rd]

Seems like he needs to get stronger to me. Lack of overall fitness and core strength, combined with loss of confidence seems like a pretty straightforward and logical explanation. If he’s a somewhat moody or sensitive person to begin with, you can see how things might begin to snowball mentally.

Brain injuries cannot be diagnosed

https://x.com/i/web/status/1789119203242385513

That’s certainly not true, Traumatic Brain Injuries and concussions are diagnosed all the time in sports. Wouldn’t be surprised if hits like that have left him gun-shy though.

 

[credulous]

He's been missing Kuzmenko, it started when Vancouver traded Kuzy.

i think you're probably joking but his play definitely fell off when kuzmenko was split up from him. pettersson is like the worst possible player for tocchet's system and after kuzmenko left there was no one left that plays a game that meshes well with him. the closest is garland and for whatever reason the coaches won't ever play them together

 

[ItWasJustified]

2) He displays very very poor body language. He’s sulking when things don’t go his way. Gives up on plays.

Goes in the family.

 

[biturbo19]

He's "Mercurial Pete". He has all the talent in the world to be a dominating, dynamic, gamebreaking player when he feels like it. He's entirely capable of playing an engaged game where he doesn't really "bully" anybody physically, but when he's dialed in, he becomes extremely difficult to take the puck off of. He can stickhandle in a phonebooth with the best of 'em, he's got an elite shot and he's a deft passer with terrific vision and creativity. That and his reach all allows him to be one of those "slippery" players who can play in traffic and tight areas and be extremely difficult to get a bead on, and he honestly has a bit of a chippy competitive streak to him when it's activated.


Problem is...way too much of the time, he just doesn't seem that interested in being as good as he possibly can be. He doesn't have that lunatic "drive" that guys like Croz, MacKinnon, Draisaitl, Hugheses et al have. He's far more of a "hobbyist" with insane talent.


He's also just physically not built for it. He's tall, but he's so spindly and weak, and the skating is "fine" but he's never been a strong bulwark on his feet and his stride is super inefficient and shaky. He's not "explosive" or "dynamic" physically in any way. He's not the same as the Sedins obviously, but where he wins is similar...in that it's all cerebral and in cleverness and clowning on guys in short areas.

The other problem is...unlike the Sedins who obviously had at least one other linemate dialed in to their frequency...Pettersson has spent a lot of time, especially more recently, saddled with guys who aren't on the same wavelength at all. Sprong/Heinen/Garland...these aren't "top line" caliber players with vision and ability to function and read plays at his level. DeBrusk is...a work in progress trying to find that mesh. And all of these are far better than most of what he's spent time with over the last couple years (aside from a hot streak with Kuzmenko).

It's a bit of same issue that Team Canada ran into with Crosby over the years, where it takes a certain type of player to "fit" with this type of player (and Petey isn't Croz, and doesn't have the same skating and powerful dynamic dominance individually either).



I think it largely is what it is at this point. I don't expect Pettersson to really "reinvent" what he is as a player. But even when he's just sort of coasting through things, he's still a PPG Center who is reliable both ways and does elevate players around him. He's just a bit of a frustrating player because he clearly has the ability to be so much better than he often is.

 

[BB79]

He's one of those guys that has high end talent and able to coast through a career on it. He seems to lack passion and f***s given.

Ahh, a case of Alexander Daigleitis