Confirmed with Link: Pettersson Signs 8 Year Deal with the Vancouver Canucks, AAV $11.6M

[VanJack]

TSN's Craig Button just threw Pettersson under the bus: "He has the 'skill', but does he have the 'will'. Ouch!

 

[MS]

conveniently that the last time he played like crap he was also coming off a wrist injury that sideline him for like half a season and who knows how long in the offseason and yeah he look eerily similar to that player but I guess the biggest diff was back then he was creating nothing at all.
This version is similar in terms of, no handles, no shot but still playing good defensively and setting up chances only for the play to constantly die on Mik and Hog's stick.

He's still creating nothing. I'm not seeing these 'great chances' that his linemates are blowing and he looks just as crap on PP shifts and Lotto Line shifts.

 

[mathonwy]

The misdirection theory makes no sense though because if Tocchet was lying to protect Pettersson physically he wouldn't go and call him out in the same breath.

Misdirection doesn't make sense? This is the playoffs where telling the truth doesn't make sense.

The coach, like any manager, has to be seen as completely objective and playing no favorites, regardless of reality.

 

[Jay26]

Misdirection doesn't make sense? This is the playoffs where telling the truth doesn't make sense.

The coach, like any manager, has to be seen as completely objective and playing no favorites, regardless of reality.

Not a chance. If Pettersson was actually injured and Tocchet knew it he would have chosen his words much more carefully. Come on now.

 

[arttk]

He's not injured. I don't know how much clearer it can get or how much clearer the team can be about it,

The thing that is apparent is that his shot is literally not there right now and the difference is night and day. Accuracy is gone, shot power is not the same and the slapper is essentially gone. there are reasons for that and compete is most likely not the reason.

He's still creating nothing. I'm not seeing these 'great chances' that his linemates are blowing and he looks just as crap on PP shifts and Lotto Line shifts.

Look back at the chances Hog didn't convert, look back at all the shots Mik placed into the goalie. Also in order to create, the other player needs to be in the right position to receive the puck and when they get the puck, they need to be able to do shit with it. Rewatching the game, the most frustrating thing is 9/10 times in the offensive zone, you'll see Petey make the right play and then Hog/Karlsson and Mik will just f*** around and the play is dead and we are either defending or trying to set it up again and it's time for a change.

Not a chance. If Pettersson was actually injured and Tocchet knew it he would have chosen his words much more carefully. Come on now.

we'll find out when offseason starts.

 

[mathonwy]

Not a chance. If Pettersson was actually injured and Tocchet knew it he would have chosen his words much more carefully. Come on now.

Nah.

Do you honestly think Petey needs to be shamed into playing better?

He’s the alien and thinks the game better than anyone on this team which is reflected by his contract extension.

 

[MS]

The thing that is apparent is that his shot is literally not there right now and the difference is night and day. Accuracy is gone, shot power is not the same and the slapper is essentially gone. there are reasons for that and compete is most likely not the reason.


Look back at the chances Hog didn't convert, look back at all the shots Mik placed into the goalie. Also in order to create, the other player needs to be in the right position to receive the puck and when they get the puck, they need to be able to do shit with it. Rewatching the game, the most frustrating thing is 9/10 times in the offensive zone, you'll see Petey make the right play and then Hog/Karlsson and Mik will just f*** around and the play is dead and we are either defending or trying to set it up again and it's time for a change.


we'll find out when offseason starts.

I'm not seeing all these great chances and great plays that his linemates are screwing up, and - again - he's played plenty with other players and isn't generating chances there either.

They also gave him Boeser on his wing for 6 or 7 games to close out the season when Miller was with Garland/Joshua and ... he didn't generate any chances for Boeser then, either.

If his wrist hurts he can still move his feet. But again - if he had some sort of serious wrist ailment, you wouldn't see the comments we're seeing from Tocchet. The coach wouldn't be talking about their freshly signed $11 million player like that if he knew the poor play was because he was gutting it through an injury.

 

[TraderJim]

Fans are putting up more effort defending Pettersson than Pettersson is putting on the ice.

 

[Nomobo]

In spite of all the bickering back and forth about whether he’s hurt or not, I’d like to remind everyone of how nice it is to be watching our team play in the middle of May. Go Canucks!

 

[arttk]

I'm not seeing all these great chances and great plays that his linemates are screwing up, and - again - he's played plenty with other players and isn't generating chances there either.

They also gave him Boeser on his wing for 6 or 7 games to close out the season when Miller was with Garland/Joshua and ... he didn't generate any chances for Boeser then, either.

If his wrist hurts he can still move his feet. But again - if he had some sort of serious wrist ailment, you wouldn't see the comments we're seeing from Tocchet. The coach wouldn't be talking about their freshly signed $11 million player like that if he knew the poor play was because he was gutting it through an injury.

Sure and I think we will find out definitely at the end of the season if there is actually anything. But are you going to dispute the fact his shot looks completely gone? And do you really believe that his compete is the reason why his shot is gone? I think even with low confidence, you can still technically apply the same force to shoot a puck...



I honestly don't remember him playing with Boeser down the stretch, i do remember him being bleh. This is his points breakdown. His SOG basically dropped off like a cliff by the 2nd half. I am not sure you would see such a dropoff because he just decided to not compete. I think it corresponds to the fact something happened to his shot and he just stopped shooting less.

Fans are putting up more effort defending Pettersson than Pettersson is putting on the ice.

fans here also want to turn on the players the moment there is anything.

Hughes -> Weak on the skates, or small or whatever, can't defend.. actually i don't remember what the criticism was back then.. maybe ignore the weak on skates part ..
Miller -> Bad body language!!
Boeser -> Who cares if his dad died! I didn't shed a tear when my whole family passed. Hockey > life
Petey -> moody little bitch who doesn't compete and gives up on team.

 

[Jay26]

Nah.

Do you honestly think Petey needs to be shamed into playing better?

He’s the alien and thinks the game better than anyone on this team which is reflected by his contract extension.

Whether he needs to or not is irrelevant. The coach wouldn't have chosen those words if Pettersson was actually injured. He's calling him right out.

 

[arttk]

Whether he needs to or not is irrelevant. The coach wouldn't have chosen those words if Pettersson was actually injured. He's calling him right out.

i think something about his hands is compromised and he can't shoot or dangle at 100% and it's at a state where it can't get worse but it won't get better until offseason injury.
So from that perspective, it's probably good enough for Toc and he expects him to be able to produce and figure it out even if his hands is operating at 60-70%.

 

[SillyRabbit]

Rick Tocchet would NEVER admit that a Canuck player had an injury.



They also highlight just how impactful Draisaitl has been, despite the fact that he actually is injured.

And Tocchet even talks about how he's not cutting Pettersson's minutes at all (again, because he's not injured) and how Pettersson needs to take advantage of his time on the PP.

He basically flat out says that Pettersson's issue is his confidence.

 

[TraderJim]

fans here also want to turn on the players the moment there is anything.

Hughes -> Weak on the skates, or small or whatever, can't defend.. actually i don't remember what the criticism was back then.. maybe ignore the weak on skates part ..
Miller -> Bad body language!!
Boeser -> Who cares if his dad died! I didn't shed a tear when my whole family passed. Hockey > life
Petey -> moody little bitch who doesn't compete and gives up on team.

Now do Jake Virtanen, Ilya Mikheyev, Lucas Sbisa, OEL, Loui Eriksson, Erik Gudbranson, Jack Rathbone.

 

[rypper]

 

[mriswith]

Fans are putting up more effort defending Pettersson than Pettersson is putting on the ice.

Everyone agrees that he needs to be better.

If adding nuance to the "he needs to be better" commentary is "defending" then you just want to vent, not discuss.

Comments from other posters like "he's the worst player on his line" (lol) or "he's 100% not injured at all" are examples of people who just want to vent and have no further interest in the topic.

 

[arttk]

Rick Tocchet would NEVER admit that a Canuck player had an injury.



They also highlight just how impactful Draisaitl has been, despite the fact that he actually is injured.

And Tocchet even talks about how he's not cutting Pettersson's minutes at all (again, because he's not injured) and how Pettersson needs to take advantage of his time on the PP.

He basically flat out says that Pettersson's issue is his confidence.

Drai also played with McD which has the biggest gravity of any player in the league. If Drai does his job and gets the puck, the options he has on his line are a 1000X stronger than Karlsson and Mik.

All he needs to do is stand at one spot and McD would pull 2-3 players away because he is McD and he would be open.

 

[mathonwy]

Whether he needs to or not is irrelevant. The coach wouldn't have chosen those words if Pettersson was actually injured. He's calling him right out.

Actually no, it is VERY relevant.

Petey (and Hronek) have been playing subpar hockey for a very long time and neither player is enjoying their work right now.

I have to believe that that's not by choice because I don't think "anyone" chooses to underperform at work and be miserable.

Coach is gonna coach and say the stuff that needs to say.

Petey's gonna do his best to work through whatever he's going through because Petey and Brock and Quinn and JT are all BFFs.

Make no mistake. These guys have a super tight bond developed from having gone through the Benning era together and play hard for each other first.

Questioning Petey's work ethic and speculating mental/behavioral issues is a massive *facepalm*.

 

[TraderJim]

Everyone agrees that he needs to be better.

If adding nuance to the "he needs to be better" commentary is "defending" then you just want to vent, not discuss.

Comments from other posters like "he's the worst player on his line" (lol) or "he's 100% not injured at all" are examples of people who just want to vent and have no further interest in the topic.

Those aren't my comments, so it sounds like you are the one who wants to vent by bringing those in and applying to me.

The moment Pettesson gets the puck, he stops skating and waits for contact. He doesn't pass it, he just coasts in a straight line until the opposing player contacts him. He either then falls down, loses the puck, or tosses it to another player.

He doesn't drive play. He doesn't move his feet when he has possession of the puck. He doesn't initiate puck battles. He doesn't maintain possession of the puck. He doesn't even shoot the puck anymore. He is a tiny shell of his former self.

I've commented awhile ago that I think its his back. He moves on the ice like someone with a bad back and if that is the case then fine. But NONE of us know so spending all your time on here defending an unknown is pointless.

We all hope for the best. Some of us want to feel morally superior for their stance though.

 

[lawrence]

I think it’s a hip injury.

Pettersson shouldn't have dressed up for the All star games. Some player must have stolen his talent juice.

Definitely shouldn't have played the last two games of the regular season either.

EP's struggles seems to be mentally, low confidence and poor wingers. He also shouldn't have changed his stick model from last season. His shot sucks right now.

He should also switch to larger skates. Maybe that might his skating. He wears size 7s for crying out loud. He’s 6’2.

 

[MS]

Sure and I think we will find out definitely at the end of the season if there is actually anything. But are you going to dispute the fact his shot looks completely gone? And do you really believe that his compete is the reason why his shot is gone? I think even with low confidence, you can still technically apply the same force to shoot a puck...



I honestly don't remember him playing with Boeser down the stretch, i do remember him being bleh. This is his points breakdown. His SOG basically dropped off like a cliff by the 2nd half. I am not sure you would see such a dropoff because he just decided to not compete. I think it corresponds to the fact something happened to his shot and he just stopped shooting less.

View attachment 871368


fans here also want to turn on the players the moment there is anything.

Hughes -> Weak on the skates
Miller -> Bad body language!!
Boeser -> Who cares if his dad died! I didn't shed a tear when my whole family passed. Hockey > life
Petey -> moody little bitch who doesn't compete and gives up on team.

54/23 = 2.34
69/21 = 3.28
43/19 = 2.26
41/19 = 2.15

Three of those 4 quarters look pretty equal.

To me he's not getting shots because he's not working to get into positions to get shots off. His PP one-timer has been erratic his whole career.

 

[sandwichbird2023]

i think something about his hands is compromised and he can't shoot or dangle at 100% and it's at a state where it can't get worse but it won't get better until offseason injury.
So from that perspective, it's probably good enough for Toc and he expects him to be able to produce and figure it out even if his hands is operating at 60-70%.

If he has a hand/wrist injury, I doubt he is taking faceoffs. Last time he was hurt in that area, JTM played center on his line and took all the draws, iirc.

I think the most likely explanation for the lack of shots/dangles are that his confidence is completely shot. For shots, especially one-timers, there is literally a split second that separate a great shot and a whiff shot. Petey's timing is gone because he is unsure of himself. Obviously a guy that has no confidence will not be trying any dangles either.

I would love for Petey to be playing severely injured right now, only because that is a valid excuse for his recent play. But the evidence is not there for that conclusion. I think Petey need some help to get over his mental hurdle, and it is not something that will happen magically during the playoff schedule.

The alternative is that our $11.6m star center needs a star winger to help get him going. That is going to be quite an anchor on the team in a capped world.

 

[VanJack]

In spite of all the bickering back and forth about whether he’s hurt or not, I’d like to remind everyone of how nice it is to be watching our team play in the middle of May. Go Canucks!

A valid point.....I remember Rutherford saying at the start of the season that 'just about everything had to go right' for the Canucks to even make the playoffs in 2023-24.

So obviously a Pacific Division crown and the conference semi-finals, means the team has wildly exceeded the expectation of even the team president.

But you can't blame Canucks or getting greedy. The team hasn't done this well in the playoffs since the spring of 2011. That's 13 long years of mostly mediocrity. There's a just a sense that this team has it in it's DNA to push that extra mile and win this series.

But then I guess Nashville thought the same thing about facing the Canucks. Sometimes you go as far as you can go with your core group, and in words of Commander Cody in 'Hot Rod Lincoln', 'there just ain't no more'.

 

[arttk]

If he has a hand/wrist injury, I doubt he is taking faceoffs. Last time he was hurt in that area, JTM played center on his line and took all the draws, iirc.

I think the most likely explanation for the lack of shots/dangles are that his confidence is completely shot. For shots, especially one-timers, there is literally a split second that separate a great shot and a whiff shot. Petey's timing is gone because he is unsure of himself. Obviously a guy that has no confidence will not be trying any dangles either.

I would love for Petey to be playing severely injured right now, only because that is a valid excuse for his recent play. But the evidence is not there for that conclusion. I think Petey need some help to get over his mental hurdle, and it is not something that will happen magically during the playoff schedule.

The alternative is that our $11.6m star center needs a star winger to help get him going. That is going to be quite an anchor on the team in a capped world.

the hand mechanics of faceoff is pretty different than shooting. when you look at NHL shoot, they are essentially dragging/digging the stick into the ice to generate flex to shoot the puck. we've seen stills of Petey shooting earlier where you can see the stick flex quite a bit and if you look back at recent shots, there is barely any dragging even if he has time.

i agree that is confidence is also shot as well but it's been shot for awhile and has been since much much much earlier.

I mean.. let's say we have MacK or McD, would anyone be happy to play Mik and Hog besides them? who are we kidding here, the delta in winger quality is so big it's disingenuous to say well we shouldn't need to get a better winger for him.

 

[Bleach Clean]

Thinking that not liking it when talented players don't compete and badly underachieve as a result is a 'bias' is certainly something.

Pettersson had more to give in the first half and was nowhere near his 22-23 levels of all-around play but you'd never hear me saying he was 'bad' or didn't justify his contract. In the last few months, he's been flat-out bad and it's because his compete level is embarrassing. He looks scared to chase a puck if he knows he might get hit.

It's bias to think Pettersson is underachieving on the basis of competing alone. His cerebral play was still enough to land him top20 in scoring despite his middling/low compete level. But for you, the efficiency of his play is devalued because he was not apparently competitive. That's the bias.

To put another way, I could care less if he is apparently competitive so long as he consistently outthinks his opponents and produces. Do you see the difference? The only thing that matters is that he gets it done, not that he is outwardly competitive.