What should the Vancouver Canucks do with Elias Pettersson? That’s the burning question in this market that everybody wants an answer to.

However, fans are probably not going to like the answer. And that answer is nothing. At least not this year.

Let’s think about everything that happened that led to this putrid season from Pettersson.

We should preface this by saying we’re not making excuses for him or trying to sugarcoat anything. He’s been bad. He has not been playing even close to what is expected out of the fifth-highest player in the league, making $11.6 million per season. To not even be on pace for 50 points is a catastrophic downhill spiral that is incomparable to other circumstances.

It dates back to last season when Pettersson struggled from the All-Star break on. He scored seven goals and 18 assists for 25 points through the final 32 games of that season. And after a disappointing postseason run where he scored one goal and five assists for six points in 13 playoff games, that noise only intensified.

In his end-of-season media availability, Pettersson shared that he was dealing with a nagging knee injury since right around the All-Star break, which would somewhat explain the decline in his play last season. But that nagging injury hindered his ability to train properly in the offseason, which he shared at training camp this season:

“I had to train around my knee injury, but I feel great,” Pettersson said. “I don’t know how exactly to explain it, but it’s a nagging injury that doesn’t want to go away easily, but we figured out a way to work around it. I don’t feel any pain in it now or after [the skates], it’s not a big thing, knee is fine.”

Well, that nagging injury and lack of training in the offseason led to a slow start to the season for Pettersson. He had just one goal and three assists with a minus-two rating through the opening 10 games. He would figure it out after that, catching heat with 22 points through the following 17 games. But then, once JT Miller returned against the Florida Panthers, his struggles came back. Pettersson tallied just seven points through the following 17 games.

Now, we all know about the reported rift between Miller and Pettersson, and Pettersson’s slow start probably didn’t help the conflict between the two.

This would ultimately lead to Miller’s eventual departure, and this officially made Pettersson the leader of the forward group. However, that hasn’t happened. He has just two points through the nine games since the Miller trade. Pettersson welcomed the added pressure after the Miller trade, but he hasn’t been able to handle it.

In an interview with Sportsnet’s Iain MacIntyre, Pettersson said, “It’s more annoying dealing with the media.” However, earlier this season, Pettersson deleted all of his social media, and he’s still hearing the outside noise.

Pettersson has proven that he can let that outside noise affect his on-ice play. And if he’s listening to it now, that’s only going to make it worse, and the on-ice play will reflect that.

It’s unfortunate, but this just looks like a lost season for Pettersson and the entire Canucks team. There has been just one problem after another, which has snowballed into such dysfunction that the organization’s hands are tied.

What should the Canucks do? There really isn’t much they can do, especially this season. The noise won’t be silenced without him playing better. And it seems he won’t play better unless the noise silences. To be fair, there has been a lot going on for Pettersson this season, so a decline in play could be looked at as expected, but not this bad.

Getting stuck under this contract if he isn’t able to bounce back is something that will set the franchise back years. But trading him away now, when his value is lower than it’s ever been, also isn’t really an ideal situation. Would you nab a return better than the Miller or Bo Horvat return? Undoubtedly. But it still likely wouldn’t be fair value.

Trading him at this year’s deadline doesn’t make a lot of sense. Allowing him to finish out the season and prove he’s worth keeping, is the best course of action for what the Canucks should do with Pettersson. And if he can’t prove it by then, he might very well be on his way out.

What do you think, Canucks fans? What do you want to see the Canucks do with Pettersson? Let us know in the comments below!