Harm didn’t hold back when breaking down Pettersson’s struggles.

“He looked slow,” said Harm. “There’s nothing dynamic about the way he’s playing, which is the same we’ve seen from him in Vancouver. Even when you go back to the flashes he’s shown where he’s played well — let’s say the Toronto game right before the break — he had the gorgeous assist to Filip Hronek, but those plays have been at a standstill. Even some of his early point games, when he racks them up, it’s been from stationary positions where he’s leveraging his IQ and vision to execute those plays rather than moving his feet.”

Pettersson’s lack of speed was particularly glaring in an international tournament filled with the fastest and most talented players in the NHL.

“He just looks slow, and when you don’t have that speed — that’s an issue for Sweden down the middle. They don’t have that game-breaking, dynamic pace from puck carriers. In a tournament this tight-checking, you’re not going to have time and space to cook. You either need to think the game at an elite level and anticipate, be at the right spot, or you need those bursts to separate the way guys like [Connor] McDavid and [Nathan] MacKinnon can. Pettersson isn’t close to that, and at this rate, he’s not even a lock to make Sweden’s Olympic team, which is concerning. This season, he may not hit 55 points. It’s rough.”

For months, some fans have pointed to head coach Rick Tocchet’s system as a reason for Pettersson’s struggles, but Harm dismissed that theory after seeing his performance in Sweden’s system.

“Another important takeaway is — I don’t want to hear people blame Rick Tocchet for Pettersson’s struggles anymore,” said Harm. “That one bothered me for a while. I can agree that overall Tocchet’s style isn’t necessarily creating a lot of offence, or there’s a possibility he’s held the offence back, but with Pettersson specifically, there was a lot of talk about how he can create off the rush and Tocchet’s system is forcing him to play dump-and-chase hockey. But watching him—even if he was allowed to create all he wanted — he can’t beat anybody up the ice carrying the puck. So how is he going to create off the rush or in transition? Seeing him play for Sweden in an environment away from Tocchet proves to me that coaching isn’t the primary issue.”

Pettersson’s future in Vancouver has become a topic of discussion over the last year. As this season marches on, opposing teams would once be eager to acquire him may not hold a different perception.

“There were, and still are, some NHL front offices that really believe that if they get Pettersson out of Vancouver and into their system, he can figure it out. And hey, maybe that can still happen,” Quads said. “But if I’m an opposing general manager, I am not bucking up for Elias Pettersson the way I would have three months ago if I was talking trades with the Canucks. This tournament was an opportunity for him to re-establish himself to the rest of the league, and he didn’t do it.”

With Pettersson struggling to regain his form, the biggest question remains: why?

“Everyone is searching for the reason why, which is difficult to do from the outside. There’s a lot of discussion dissecting the knee tendonitis, but if he was truly injured, why would he have played in this tournament in the first place?” Harm asked. “It’s so confusing because, to me, he doesn’t physically look right in terms of his skating. He’s so much slower than he was two years ago. It’s frustrating, and the more it continues in this direction, the more likely it is this club considers dealing him before his July no-movement clause kicks in.”

The clock is ticking for Pettersson to prove he can still be the elite, game-changing center he once was.

“He needs to show something down the stretch — this is the last audition,” Harm added. “He’s got 27 regular-season games and a playoff opportunity if the team punches their ticket to prove he deserves to stay in Vancouver.”

You can watch the full segment below: