Why would Elias Pettersson want to go to Chicago of all teams?: Canucks Conversation
6 months ago
On today’s episode of Canucks Conversation, David Quadrelli and Harman Dayal returned from the Christmas break for an update on the World Junior tournament and to check out a rumour that’s circulating in the NHL sphere: Elias Pettersson wanting to “team up” with Connor Bedard and become a member of the Chicago Blackhawks.
The show started off with the guys discussing the hot start for Sweden in the World Junior Championship, with Canucks’ prospects Jonathan Lekkerimaki, Tom Willander, and Elias Pettersson all coming out of the gates strong. CanucksArmy’s Dave Hall made a brief appearance and suggested prospect Elias Pettersson has, as he predicted, shocked many with his performance thus far.
“He’s playing tons of minutes, led the team in ice time in both games with 21 and 23 minutes,” said Dave. “He’s exactly as advertised: aggressive, playing big minutes, and doing everything he can to shut down the offense. So far, it’s been pretty flawless.”
The guys then moved on to discuss the Pettersson rumour. Chatter began after this clip hit social media, where former pro hockey player Matt Murley speculated about Pettersson going to Chicago:
The guys weren’t having any of it.
“I told you before I didn’t even want to talk about it, but I said if one person in the YouTube live chat brings it up, we need to talk about it, because people want our thoughts,” said Quads. “Let’s just think about this for a second. First of all, why would he ever want to go to Chicago of all teams? All we’ve heard during his whole time in Vancouver is ‘I want to play for a winning team’. Why would he sign with a team that’s five years back from where the Canucks are right now?” said Quads. “It’s basically like joining a team where the Canucks were before anything started going right in Vancouver. I don’t buy it for a second; I don’t know why he’d want to go there. It’s crazy to me.”
“Pettersson has guys here he’s grown up with since he joined this organization, and they’re finally at the top of the league,” said show producer Grady Sas. “There’s a connection to William Nylander because they played together in some World Championships; people are saying they’re going to chase the bag and go to Chicago together. I don’t see those guys as those types of players. This isn’t the NBA, where superstars are linking up and deciding where to play. Both of those guys want to win; they’re both in the prime of their careers, and there has been some speculation that Toronto may not be able to afford Nylander, but they’re not going to let him walk away for nothing. Petey is an RFA; he doesn’t have the leverage to demand to go to Chicago. To me it’s made up for clicks and engagement; look at the fanbase they’ve targeted and the reaction it’s caused.”
“Chicago doesn’t have the pieces to give up for Pettersson [in a trade] anyway. The Canucks aren’t going to take a bunch of first-round picks; they want to win now. Give up Bedard in return and maybe the Canucks will listen,” said Quads with a laugh. “The guy who reported it didn’t even sound confident in what he was saying. I know it’s against the rules to try to discredit people’s reporting, and that’s not what I’m trying to do, but what I will say is I have a couple sources that I can talk to as well, and all of them are saying the exact same things we are,” Quads concluded before somehow going on a rant about Shohei Ohtani (also represented by CAA, the same company that represents EP40) signing with the LA Dodgers earlier this month.
You can watch the full segment in the video below:
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