According to Elite Prospects Cam Robinson, the Vancouver Canucks have officially pulled forward Elias Pettersson off of the trade market as the NHL embarks on the inaugural 4 Nations Face-off tournament.
The Canucks were the talk of the NHL for the majority of the season because of a rift between the club’s two top centres, Pettersson and JT Miller. It came to a point where one of them had to move on, and the club chose to move on from Miller and kept Pettersson.
However, reports shortly after indicated that just because Miller was gone, Pettersson’s name remained out there on trade block.
By his standards, Pettersson is having a down year. He has just 11 goals and 23 assists for 34 points through 49 games this season. That puts him on pace for an 82-game pace of 57 points, which would be the lowest of his career (outside of a 26-game 2020 season).
Pettersson’s agent Pat Brisson went on Donnie & Dhali today and highlighted the difficult offseason for his client and that he understands he’s underperforming and isn’t happy with it:
“I know Petey had a tough summer,” said Brisson. “He couldn’t train at the level that he wanted to train. He had an injury, and it held him back for quite a while, and he had an okay camp.
“To be fair, he’s not happy with the way he’s performed up to [now]. I probably would say he had high ups and downs throughout the first 50 games, and he’s got high expectations for himself. He said it verbally last couple weeks here.
“We know that he’s a better player than what he’s shown for so far this year. But at the same time, he’s applying a lot of pressure on himself. He’s a proud player and proud person, and sometimes timing [with] injuries, take a little step back into your timing.”
Pettersson will now join his fellow countrymen for the 4 Nations Face-off. He will battle with familiar faces that he grew up playing against to reset and return to finish the year in Vancouver and help push the franchise for the final Wild Card spot in the Western Conference.