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Former Vancouver Canucks Defenseman Has Some Choice Words for Elias Pettersson
Photo credit: Bob Frid - Imagn Images.
A former Vancouver Canucks defenseman was not pleased with what he's seeing so far this season from Elias Pettersson, who is hoping to have a bounce back year.
It certainly hasn't been the start to the season that Elias Pettersson and the Vancouver Canucks were hoping for, with the Swedish forward sitting at two assists and four shots-on-goal through four games.
After telling reporters this summer that he was "out for revenge" this year, it unfortunately hasn't looked like that just yet and while it's still very early in the season, frustration is beginning to grow, not only among the team's fan base, but including with some of their former players as well, including Jannik Hansen.
""If you're looking at it from a perspective of 'are the Canucks going to get into the playoffs?', if that's the question you are posing to me, then I don't need to look...I squarely look at number 40. Can he will this team anywhere? Because without a number one center, you're not getting there. It's that simple. As good as it was to see Chytil score two goals against Calgary, without a true number one center, you're just not getting in there. So you can look at Petey and say, can Petey pull this team in the direction it needs to, we'll have enough depth scoring, we'll have enough penalty killing attributes, hopefully the power play can click, hopefully DeBrusk & Boeser will score their 25-30 goals each, then that should be enough to get Vancouver there, if they have a number one center." Hansen said.
Former Vancouver Canucks defenseman not pleased with what he's seeing from Elias Pettersson
During a recent appearance on TSN's "Something or Nothing" segment, former Vancouver Canucks defenseman Frank Corrado was asked for his thoughts on Elias Pettersson's start to the season.
Corrado said that so far, the Sundsvall, Sweden native isn't playing up to his contract, which comes with an average annual value (AAV) of $11.6 million and for the Vancouver Canucks, they should be at the point where they're questioning who they can put with Elias Pettersson to get them going, rather than worrying about which players they can put with the centerman to get him going in terms of offensive production.
He went on to add that it's concerting that they need to be asking these questions about someone that they've made a large financial commitment too and that they really need him to step up in a big way and prove that he is still capable of being an elite, first line centerman in the National Hockey League.
"This is a long runway now of Elias Pettersson not playing up to his contract. This is a guy who makes $11.6 million, and now the question in Vancouver becomes, 'Who can we put with him to get him going?' For a guy that makes that much money, the question should be the other way around: Who can I put Elias Pettersson with to get them going? But now, they're looking down at a situation where, do you put Evander Kane and Connor Garland on the same line as Elias Pettersson to drag him into the fight a little bit more? It's concerning that they would be asking those questions about a guy who makes so much money and is the top centerman on a team that is quite thin down the middle of the ice." Corrado said.
It feels a bit early to hit the panic button on Elias Pettersson this season, but he has to get going and has to find a way to push through and drive offense for this team.
If he ends up having a similar year like 2024-25, then it's going to raise a ton of questions next summer about his future with the organization, whether a trade could occur or, something that the Canucks absolutely don't want to do, a contract buyout, which TSN's Craig Button suggested as a possibility earlier this week.
| POLL | ||
OCTOBRE 17 | 1212 ANSWERS Former Vancouver Canucks Defenseman Has Some Choice Words for Elias Pettersson Are you concerned about Elias Pettersson's start to the 2025-26 season? | ||
| Yes | 865 | 71.4 % |
| No, I'm confident he'll find his groove | 347 | 28.6 % |
| List of polls | ||
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