Elias Pettersson revealed earlier today that he'd be holding the trade talks to focus on the upcoming season. Still, everybody knows that it means he wanted to see the direction this team would be taking.
His agent, Pat Brisson, dropped a big piece of information on his client's decision, but also on the timeline of a possible extension with the Canucks. During an interview with Iain McIntyre, Brisson stated the following:
In no way does adding time to the timeline benefit the Canucks, and the only thing that could've led up to this, is a major disparity between the two parties' believed values. The Canucks are most likely trying to make a comparable out of Sebastian Aho's extension since he's also an extremely dominant two-way centerman in the league.
However, Aho is two years older and isn't nearly as productive or even remotely as dangerous offensively. By holding out, Pettersson is probably trying to prove to the Canucks' management that he can repeat last year's exploit and, by doing so, drive up the price like crazy.
Thinking about it, this does sound like a similar situation; the Canucks were in a very similar boat last year whilst negotiating an extension with Bo Horvat. Low-balled him, Horvat took the wager, went on a scoring spree, and the Canucks couldn't afford to keep him. Are the Canucks about to mess this one up?
