Henrik Sedin on Elias Pettersson’s Canucks future: ‘He needs to decide’
The ball is in Elias Pettersson’s court when it comes to his future with the Vancouver Canucks.
The Swede is entering a critical offseason and will be looking to dismiss any questions about his condition once training camp rolls around in September. His tenure in Vancouver has been plagued with questions about his work ethic and commitment to the team, but his new bosses seem ready to give him another chance.
Both Henrik and Daniel Sedin have taken over the club as co-presidents this summer and have not shied away from talking about Pettersson’s future with the Canucks. Henrik appeared on Monday’s edition of the 32 Thoughts Podcast with Elliotte Friedman, where he talked about Pettersson’s role.
“We’re gonna be there to support him,” Henrik said. “In the end, he needs to decide; we can’t push him to do anything. He needs to decide what player he wants to be, because when he is prepared, and when he comes into the season well-prepared, I think he’s gonna surprise a lot of people.
“We’ll be there to support him; he’s gonna have to make a decision.”
Since being promoted to their new jobs, the Sedins haven’t explicitly said whether or not Pettersson will be back with the team next season. Trade rumours circulated around Petey last season, and they are certain to come back around this offseason.
It seems that a lot of the focus from the Sedins on Pettersson revolves around him properly preparing for the season. The twins mentioned it at their introductory press conference last week as well.
A theme has definitely developed here.
“We’ve been through this, as players, exactly what he’s been through,” Daniel Sedin said then. “You’re going to have some really good seasons, you’re going to have some tougher seasons.
“What we found after a long career, looking back, is that the best seasons we had, we were well prepared… That is everything you can control, is how hard you work in the summer. Mentally ready to go when training camp hits. So I think that’s the one message to him, is preparation.”
The Canucks are not expected to be a Stanley Cup-contending team next season. They’ve admitted that they are in a rebuild and will not be rushing things. This should take some pressure off Pettersson, but that shouldn’t absolve him of everything. When you get paid $11.6 million a year, there will be certain expectations.
Henrik was asked if he believes Pettersson can get back to the 100-point player he used to be, and once again pointed back to preparation.
“If he decides, and the preparation is there, he can come back,” Henrik said. “We’re not going to ask him to be anything unbelievable for us. He should come in, be a great teammate, and show that he’s done the preparation that he needs to.”
The Canucks legend also mentioned that new GM Ryan Johnson will have standards for all players to perform, and it won’t change for the star players like Pettersson.
If preparation is the main thing getting in the way of Pettersson rediscovering his game, how he comes out of this offseason will say a lot about who he is as a player.