What’s the story with Elias Pettersson?

[notsocommonsense]

So what if he's still dealing with the injury?

Knee tendinitis. I presume the Nucks have consulted specialists on this considering it’s being going on since February. If an entire offseason didn’t improve it, we have a problem. I don’t think that’s the case though.

 

[kanucks25]

He is only paid like them because they signed their contracts a long time ago or in Crosby's case he is just a legend who would rather improve playoff odds than make a few extra mill.

Draisaitl just signed 14mill per. There are going to be a lot of players getting 10-11mill contracts in the future that are far below the Crosby/McDavid/MacKinnon tier. Nylander got the same as Pettersson around the same time. The narrative that he is paid like the top 3 players is only true at the surface level.

Btw, I am not claiming that he is playing up to the standards of a 11.6mill contract so far, just pointing out that his contract is a fair one for the player Pettersson is (hopefully is and not WAS)

??????

He's 5th right now. You can argue Crosby should be paid more and use Draisaitl's next contract and that would still put him at 7th.

A few players might pass him over the next few seasons but he'll still be top-10.

There's nothing "surface level" about that, he's literally being paid like the players that are in the conversation for best in the world.

Yeah in the future 11.6 is going to fall out of that category but we're talking about today.

 

[crowfish]

??????

He's 5th right now. You can argue Crosby should be paid more and use Draisaitl's next contract and that would still put him at 7th.

A few players might pass him over the next few seasons but he'll still be top-10.

There's nothing "surface level" about that, he's literally being paid like the players that are in the conversation for best in the world.

Yeah in the future 11.6 is going to fall out of that category but we're talking about today.

I am talking about today.... As in if McDavid, Crosby & MacKinnon were 25 years old and signing an 8 year deal today, they would be making far more than 11.6million... That is why the comparison is flawed.

 

[Lawzy]

I guess the timeline I remembered in my head was off, thank you for correcting me. I'll toss that theory out.

I kind of remember it that way too, honestly. I think that point total is heavily carried by that east coast road trip where the lotto line was unbelievable. Visually, his play dropped when they dropped Kuzmenko from his line back in November but I think he was still producing despite that.

 

[Cats2TheCup]

I’ve been saying it for years and years. Wish him the best personally, but no.

 

[SillyRabbit]

I can't tell you what's wrong with him but I absolutely in no way buy any theory that he's currently playing injured.

Pettersson has missed 0 time. He played all 82 regular season games last season. He played all 13 playoff games last season.

No reports of him getting surgery in the offseason.

What's causing him to play so far below his abilities? I don't know, but I am almost 100% certain it's not an injury.

 

[Devilsfan118]

Soft + got his money

Dangerous combo

 

[Coffee]

Soft + got his money

Dangerous combo

He looked like Bergeron today

 

[HockeyVirus]

He looked like Bergeron today

Sitting on the sidelines watching the game?

 

[Coffee]

Sitting on the sidelines watching the game?

No like his play in the defensive and neutral zone

 

[Bobby9]

20 point pace

 

[jackjohnson]

20 point pace

I will wait, so far we had to face Vasilevsky in his vezina form and Bob in his playoff form. I dont think Canucks have had an easy goalie to face except maybe the Philly goalie. We need to face skinner a couple of times to boost Peterssons stats

 

[Regal]

I kind of remember it that way too, honestly. I think that point total is heavily carried by that east coast road trip where the lotto line was unbelievable. Visually, his play dropped when they dropped Kuzmenko from his line back in November but I think he was still producing despite that.

Mikheyev also went from scoring decently until the middle of November (6 goals and 9 points in 11 games) to a ghost. I think that in large part coincided with Pettersson no longer carrying him.

 

[Fire Sweeney]

He got paid, thats's all. Better luck in 8 years, Canucks fans.

 

[ZJuice]

Knee tendinitis. I presume the Nucks have consulted specialists on this considering it’s being going on since February. If an entire offseason didn’t improve it, we have a problem. I don’t think that’s the case though.

I hope they won't be or haven't been shooting him up with cortisone shots.

Klefbom of the Oilers had a bad shoulder that ended his career. Later I read an interview where he mentioned all of the cortisone shots to push through the pain.. But I've read studies in the past that the cortisone injections REDUCE cartilage and make issues worse.

Then there is Kesler having part of his intestines removed quite young potentially because of Ketorolac injections to play through injury.

I like Pettersson as much as I hate him. He is a great player when he's on which is dangerous for my team, but I love watching great players

 

[nuxnux1]

He’s seeming like a bit of a head case

 

[Love]

He might be the most mentally weak professional athlete I’ve ever seen

Way too many posters completely missing the point trying to dunk on Nucks fans. The guy has looked like crap for a while now, it’s not just that he’s not Crosby or McDavid. In the playoffs he straight up looked like a bottom six player. He has a problem, whether it’s injury or mental, it’s not just that he’s a star who isn’t generational.

Agreed. He does have a problem. And it’s not the contract. This stretch of horrible play started before he signed it.

 

[biturbo19]

Soft + got his money

Dangerous combo

The thing is...he's not really "soft" particularly. At least, when he's "on" and playing engaged hockey up to his ability level, he's certainly not "soft". He's actually pretty gritty, fiery, competitive. The problem is...when he's "off" he does play far more passively, and a more disengaged, "soft" sort of game.

That's what makes it seem like pretty clearly a mental hurdle for him. When he's obviously capable of playing a grittier, engaged game. He just doesn't always do it. The only other element to that, is that maybe his body just isn't really built to sustain that level of gritty, competitive, engaged play, over the duration of an entirely way too long season. But it feels far more like just a conscious, mental issue...than a really "soft" style of play as a fixture of his game.

 

[Regal]

The thing is...he's not really "soft" particularly. At least, when he's "on" and playing engaged hockey up to his ability level, he's certainly not "soft". He's actually pretty gritty, fiery, competitive. The problem is...when he's "off" he does play far more passively, and a more disengaged, "soft" sort of game.

That's what makes it seem like pretty clearly a mental hurdle for him. When he's obviously capable of playing a grittier, engaged game. He just doesn't always do it. The only other element to that, is that maybe his body just isn't really built to sustain that level of gritty, competitive, engaged play, over the duration of an entirely way too long season. But it feels far more like just a conscious, mental issue...than a really "soft" style of play as a fixture of his game.

Yea, even in the bubble playoffs, he was constantly in front of the net taking punishment and making plays. He certainly has the ability to muck it up it’s just not consistent.

 

[Coffee]

He got paid, thats's all. Better luck in 8 years, Canucks fans.

Hey! You don't mean that, do you ?

 

[sting101]

He seems like a very "on/off" motivation type of player, where he either feels a particular sort of challenge and drive to relentlessly devote himself to something, or has total burnout where he has no interest in that thing at all. He's extremely talented, but I dont know if hes as single-minded about hockey as someone like McDavid, who is totally exceptional in how much theyve committed their entire self and identity to hockey.

I think he also needs to get used to being the highest paid guy on the team. I'm sure that causes a pretty big psychological weight to be on his shoulders now, and his decline in play is essentially 100% correlated to how much in the foreground his contract has been (negotiations + actually having it signed, has been very forward and public about how much he didn't want to think about it and put off signing it). At some point, he's just going to have to get used to it and ignore how much he's getting paid. Being anxious about living up to that number or feeling guilty for not doing so will just make him spiral further.

In 2 responses Svencouver absolutely nails what i've been trying to relay to Canuck fans for months....well said

His first career struggle came after his 7 million contract when expectations changed.

Petterssons game is predicated on superior skill anticipation and smarts. If he's not activating quickly and wavering in fitness desire or confidence it all comes apart. And some is playing with nagging physical issues.

Some players are so engaged physically every game that when they are off they can manufacture productive games. Even lower level players find those effort levels to maintain jobs. Pettersson currently is just not physically or mentally built to be that kind of player.

Mentally he can get to the point where his physicality wont matter much. We are discussing a player who has a career average above PPG and say what you want about the bubble playoffs but after 3 rounds he didn't look scared unconfident and sluggish to make plays. 18pts in 17 games

I think he really cares (his insecurities are guarded by a wall that he puts up and his failures devolve to periods and games where he beats himself up and goes internal) He's like a amateur golfer that lets a few bad holes get into his head and then melts down for a tourney before he re sets himself. Last year the build up and then stress of massively changed expectations by the team plus his contract messed him up.

I imagine getting raspberries from teammates about 90million and making so much more than Hughes and Miller could have been awkward especially when a few games became months and Hughes is now looking him off on PPs and the coach fans and managers are left trying to tip toe around his melt down. The NHL is a tough league especially if you show weakness.

Bottom line he needs a sports psychologist and to just play his own game and be able to filter out the noise. External and internal. Experience/maturity more resolve and getting stronger should help him find the consistency he needs to get his mojo back.

Piling on him is gonna be fun to quote later.

 

[JKG33]

He reminds me a lot of the Leafs overpaid 4. Makes a few great plays a year that the casual tiktok hockey fan loves, puts up enough points to get a fat overpaid contract, but is scared shitless of contact and disappears when the going gets tough

 

[Coffee]

He reminds me a lot of the Leafs overpaid 4. Makes a few great plays a year that the casual tiktok hockey fan loves, puts up enough points to get a fat overpaid contract, but is scared shitless of contact and disappears when the going gets tough

I don’t see this at all, that him or Matthews shy away from contact. Even this last year Pettersson had 125 hits and Matthews had 92.

Nylander and Marner shouldn’t be compared as both Pettersson and Matthews have more than Nylander and Marner combined