Pettersson injury worse than Canucks thought and could be season-ending
Despite the Vancouver Canucks’ season being extended until May 19, we may not see Elias Pettersson return to the lineup the rest of the way.
Pettersson hasn’t played a game since March 2, due to a reported wrist injury. The injury was initially not thought to be serious, with Canucks coach Travis Green saying on March 8 that they hoped to get him back within a week.
“Originally we thought it wasn’t a huge issue, but it’s gone longer than we thought,” Green said on March 22.
During today’s media availability, GM Jim Benning said that Pettersson saw a specialist on Wednesday. Benning was hoping that Pettersson would be cleared to play shortly after that visit, but it doesn’t appear he got the answer the team was looking for.
Now Benning says he’s unsure if Pettersson will be able to return to play this season at all.
“He’s going to continue to rehab his injury,” said Benning. “He’s on the ice skating now, he’s going to continue to rehab, but we don’t have a timeline yet as to when he’s going to be back, if he’s going to be back at all.”
“I was hopeful that maybe he could come back but after the visit [with the specialist] on Wednesday. He’s going to be [out of the lineup] a little bit longer yet.”
Pettersson was one of the few Canucks not to test positive for COVID-19, as was the case with all their injured players (Jay Beagle, who is also injured had a false positive).
Benning said Beagle is also seeing a specialist, and when he could potentially return is also unknown.
“I don’t have a timeline as to when he’s going to be available to play or not,” said Benning.
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