Vancouver Canucks' best option with struggling Pettersson is the most painful one
The Vancouver Canucks have an $11.6-million problem, and his name is Elias Pettersson.
The Swedish star’s decline has been widely covered. Since Jan. 1, he’s got one goal and seven points in 18 games. He’s tied for 276th in points among NHL skaters in that time while being paid the fifth most money.
The departure of J.T. Miller, which happened because of off-ice issues with Pettersson, hasn’t helped as people hoped it would.
The cherry on top of Pettersson’s slump has been his increased cattiness, bringing up the frustration of dealing with the media when asked hockey questions. It’s not a good look for someone who was nearly captain.
The Canucks committed $92.8 million to Pettersson for him to be a leader of the franchise. This year, he’s come up short in all facets.
When July 1 rolls around, Pettersson’s no-movement clause will kick in. That’ll make trading him for a fair return nearly impossible. This means if the Canucks believe they made a mistake and want to move on, they realistically have until the March 7 trade deadline to do so.
The Canucks have floated Pettersson on the trade market for much of this season, listening to offers. There’s no doubt teams are interested, and why wouldn’t they be? Despite his struggles, he’s still 26 years old with a 100-point season under his belt. He’s the ninth-fastest active player to reach 400 points. He has a resume most players his age could only dream of.
Two-way centres of his calibre are not often available on the trade market, yet he’s been so bad over the past calendar year that he is.
For the other 31 NHL teams, it would be easy to convince yourself that Pettersson’s issues are rooted in Vancouver. Perhaps a fresh start and time to figure things out would be all he needs to return to form. With each passing game, Pettersson’s value takes another hit.
If the Canucks want to make the best team this season, it’s not hard to picture trading Pettersson for two top-six forwards achieving that goal. After all, he’s producing like a third-liner.
But if the Canucks’ goal is to win the Stanley Cup, as it should be, then they have just one realistic option, and that is to do nothing.
Doing nothing is often harder than doing something, as you lose control over the situation, but for the Canucks, that is the sole way forward in their Pettersson dilemma. When at his best, he’s the type of player that wins Stanley Cups, and there’s little chance they’ll be able to get back a similarly elite talent in any trade.
Perhaps the Canucks could get a collection of assets that make up a solid return on paper. But losing that elite talent up front would create a hole in the Canucks lineup too large to fill and represent the end of this core.
There are possible explanations for his struggles that can be fixed in Vancouver. Maybe it’s the knee, and Pettersson needs more time to recover. We know he didn’t get his usual training last summer because of it. Or maybe it’s a confidence issue, and the Canucks committing to him will help him out.
So the Canucks should just wait, struggle through every pointless night, and give Pettersson time to find his game again. There are worse bets to make than gambling on the prodigious talent Pettersson has shown.