Welcome back to WDYTT, the only hockey column on the internet to live in perfect harmony with itself.

Speaking of balance, it’s something we strive to achieve here in WDYTT. In a business comprised almost entirely of coming up with random questions, we make efforts to even out the good and the bad, the positive and the negative, the hindsight and the prognosticating.

And sometimes, we achieve that by just asking two questions at once. This is one of those compound situations.

By the time you read these words, you’ll have had the chance to watch the 2024/25 Vancouver Canucks a good six or seven times, and that’s just counting the regular season. On the one hand, it’s a pretty short sample size. On the other hand, it’s a sample size we can examine alongside past precedent and current expectations.

In other words, we haven’t really had enough time to make a full measure of these Canucks. But a partial, one-up, one-down style quick assessment? We’ve probably had enough time for one of those. So, that’s what we’re asking for today.

Based on everything you’ve seen from this current edition of the Canucks thus far, we’d like you to make a two-stop scouting report today. Just a quick, Dickensian ‘the best of the 2024/25 Canucks, the worst of the 2024/25 Canucks’ sort of deal.

This week, we’re asking:

Let it be known in the comment section.

You answered below!

Stephan with the 11.6 million dollar question this week.

Yes, I do think Pettersson will bounce back, but I do unfortunately believe that what we see is what we get. By that I mean, he will return to form as a player that can score in bunches and look like he can take over games at times. The flip side is that he will revert back and continue going through these prolonged funks that can last for half a season or more where it seem hopeless. His career has been a bit of a roller coaster, which I expect to continue as such.

This seems to be the trend from his career so far, so there is no reason to expect anything different. Unless somehow Pettersson or someone else can really figure this out, this is the player we will have.

For the sake of his teammates and the management he better improve his play. Firstly its hard for competitive individuals (and fans) to take players who are overhyped, overpaid, and underperforming for half a season and a playoffs too seriously. Also, the coach and admin let him do his own thing, by protecting him from media, allowing him to make excuses about being injured when the two guys in the stalls beside you are both feeling the same. How many games will it take if this continues for the coach to realize this player is winger?

I’d say Pettersson will bounce back towards the second half of this season. Every time he’s had a slow start, it was always because of some nagging undisclosed injury. His body is pretty sensitive and he’s a cerebral player. He looks better when he has puck position. He doesn’t fall as much and bounces right back up, something we haven’t seen in awhile, so I guess in that sense, he’s already accomplished his bounce back up.

The ball is in EP40’s court. Only he can answer that question.

Management probably made a mistake in pressuring him to get that contract done. He was an RFA, so it shouldn’t have been such a big deal. Had they waited, Pettersson would have either played better and given the Canucks a better chance in the playoffs, or they would have signed him for less.

EP will get back on track when he stops his little frustration act of banging the stick and getting upset when something doesn’t go right. He just needs to start enjoying the game. His downslide started when Kuzmenko was in Tocchet’s bad books. Seems EP is not having fun anymore. Rather than jamming him with this and that, get him to start laughing and relaxing.

He is skating better, and if his linemates can learn to hit holes, he will find them. Similarly, if his linemates keep their heads up, they can find him.

Put him with guys he can rely on defensively so he doesn’t have to cheat to the defensive side.

That means no Sprong!!

Adding Garland or Höglander to his line will give him a shot of adrenaline.

Also, put Suter back on the Miller line.

Hard to be optimistic about Pettersson turning things around any time soon. He still doesn’t look right physically. He won’t regain being a dominant player until he gets the edge back he had in ‘22/’23 and to start last season. None of us here know what the underlying issues are.

Fans get virtually no insight into what is actually going on physically or mentally with a player. It’s amazing how many believe they understand the situation fully based on nothing. The regurgitation of uninformed opinions is not information.

When Pettersson was coming back from a wrist injury, there was a minority saying he was done and should be traded. And there was an article in CA saying there was nothing really to worry about. I thought at the time, that the naysayers were jumping the gun, but that the CA article was a bit too rosy in outlook.

I feel the same now. I’m beyond tired of the anti-Pettersson (often also anti-Swedish players) crowd, gleefully concluding that a super talented 25-year-old is washed up based on essentially a bad half season. I believe he’ll pull out of that, but, with the team having invested so heavily in him, right now there is some reason for concern.

Pettersson is very puzzling to me. Neither the hockey club nor Pettersson have provided fans any insight as to what is wrong with him physically or mentally or both. Whether he is injured or not, he seems to have completely lost his confidence. I have no idea if he will bounce back. We have seen zero evidence so far that he will bounce back. I dread a very lengthy slump a la Jonathan Huberdeau in Calgary.

Pettersson needs to start shooting the puck. He has turned into Henrik Sedin and is mostly looking to pass instead of using his deadly shot.