Looks like Elias Pettersson's nightmare Vancouver Canucks season is over
It appears Elias Pettersson’s season has come to an end.
Vancouver Canucks head coach Rick Tocchet told reporters this morning that the team is “probably gonna shut Petey down,” rather than rushing him back from injury for the final three games of the season.
“He’s getting better but at this point I’d rather him just try to get back stronger,” Tocchet said.
Pettersson hasn’t played since March 22 when he left the game early against the New York Rangers at Madison Square Garden.
The first season of Pettersson’s new $11.6-million AAV contract turned out to be the most disappointing of his seven-year career.
The feud with J.T. Miller helped derail the Canucks’ season, while Pettersson struggled offensively, scoring just 45 points in 64 games. That’s the lowest point total Pettersson has tallied with the exception of pandemic-shortened season in 2020-21, when he scored 21 points in 26 games.
Details of Pettersson’s injury have been hard to come by and Tocchet didn’t give any clues on Saturday.
“It was an injury where… everybody’s different… it’s progressing but not at the pace we want, so why even play him?”
Pettersson’s not the only Canucks player that will miss tonight’s home game against the Minnesota Wild.
Max Sasson is “dinged up,” paving the way for Ty Mueller to play his first NHL game. The 22-year-old has 38 points (12-26-38) in 62 games with the Abbotsford Canucks this season. This is the first professional season for Mueller, a 2023 fourth-round pick who played three years at the University of Nebraska-Omaha.
Speaking of Abbotsford call-ups, Nikita Tolopilo will back up Kevin Lankinen tonight because Thatcher Demko is sick.
Tyler Myers, Nils Aman, and Filip Chytil are also still injured.