It shook everyone in Vancouver when Elias Pettersson openly stated that he had put a hold on the contract negotiations moving forward. Pettersson only has a year left to his current deal; he's looking at a massive pay increase, but it is nowhere near his top priority.
Literally every media involved in the NHL went on a spree when the news broke. Some suggested that Pettersson wanted out of Vancouver; other believed it was because he wanted to get more money out of the Canucks, and according to the man himself, everybody is off track.
Pettersson took a stand today and was interviewed after the training camp's opening practice and called out the media for making a story out of nothing. He even added that his contractual situation was not a distraction. For him, it's all about seeing whether or not he wants to commit the prime years of his career to this organization and this management team:
While he makes a good point that his contract negotiation is a more prominent subject than it is because of the media, the media also remembers everything that happened just a year ago when the team's former captain ended up being traded away to the Islanders after causing a stir in the media.
Pettersson skated alongside the winger he shared most of his ice time with last year,drei Kuzmenko. Hopefully, their flame is still scorching, and they got us even more goals than last year!
