[Report] Canucks re-sign Pettersson to 8 year contract @ $11.6M

[PhillipBlunt]

9 minutes ago, Sell.the.team said:

 

I say "psychological injury" tongue in cheek, not in a technical sense.  I saw your comments in the PGT thread where you said you thoguht "it was a mental thing" and I think we are on the same page here.  Have you ever seen a golfer or baseball pitcher with the yips?  The wide open net he missed vs the preds is evidence of that.  I think that is analagous to what Petey has right now.  Some sort of mental block that needs to be overcome, and can be overcome.  It was wider than most 'open nets' and he just hooked it hard.  I (along with basically everyone else) knew at that moment he was clearly battling some psychological demons.

 

Pettersson started the playoffs playing with Sam Lafferty.  I don't even hate Lafferty, but he should be playing on our fourth line - not with our franchise forward.  What the fuck kind of message does that send to him?  He should be on the top line playing with top line players.  When he gets unnecessary abuse from the opposition... guys like Sam Lafferty should be answering for him.

 

He had a bad first few games including the missed open net.  Then the incident with the goal celebration happened.  People critisized him for not fighting back after that.  WTF was he supposed to do, try to fight the whole team?  Even Bieksa admitted in the intermission that he would have done the same thing...and Juice is one of the toughest guys I've seen play.  The NHL should have penalized or suspended Lauzon for that but they didn't.  I'm all for letting the players play, but that crossed a line.  If the NHL was unwilling to do something, the Canucks should have answered back to that specific incident.  Someone should have fought Lauzon or given him a backhanded slash or something, or overtly taken down a pred after a goal celebration.  No one did.  That one is not on Petey IMO.  Same thing with Nurse shoving his head into the boards.  He's had a rough go these playoffs but he's not a lost cause.  We need him to produce more to win.  To me, it's a gambit but we need to play him more and hope he figures it out...because the alternative is us fading away in this series.  At least, that's my take right now, and maybe I am wrong. 

Regarding the league and their halfassed approach to officiating and punishment, I agree wholeheartedly. They’re out to lunch and if their dereliction of duty causes paralysis or death to a player, I hope they’re sued back to the Stone Age. 

[AlexanderM]

Pettersson got the short end of the stick where the lines are concerned, he should have at least one top winger to play with but that didn't happen!! PA was trying to pull something off at the deadline but that didn't happen. Talent goes with talent. 

 

They could try Petey with Garland & Joshua, he might be able to feed off their chemistry, make them better. Then try Lindholm with Mik, as he is still a good defensive player and build a defensive line. Just a thought. 

Edited May 15 by AlexanderM

[NoCupSyndrome]

Yes, EP is struggling but some crazy takes are starting to make the rounds. JD Bunkis (Ontario podcaster, surprise surprise) suggested on sportsnet that EP's contract might be in the NHL's worst contract territory.

 

Crazy take, EP's game is still strong, it's his offensive production that has dried out. He needs to get out of his own head, he needs to go hard starting tonight, and he needs to get stronger on his skates over the summer (and every summer moving forward).

 

Playoff bubble EP was a beast, he will get it back. Unfortunately, it is terrible timing for him to go into a slump. The big contract is currently weighing on him. Lets go EP, huge game tonight!

[Canucks164cup]

I would pay Miller this money but EP doesn't deserve this amount, watching the playoffs Miller is 100% better even if they had zero points Miller does way more and is more engaged because he's stronger. Watching Petey this playoffs it's like watching a fragile 18 or 19 year old play, management jumped the gun on this one too early.

[MattJVD]

My guess (pure speculation, of course) is that Petey's slight flame and high metabolism make it very hard for him to keep his weight and energy up over the course of a season. In the off-season where he can better regulate his training/rest cycles he gets into the shape he needs to be in and always stroms out of the gate at the begining of a season (and he did in the bubble playoffs after a long break). When the season gets going though, I think he is struggling to maintain his strength, mass, and explosiveness. I would guess this is why he often sits out optional skates: he needs extra time to eat and nap. 

 

Anyways, that's just a guess and no way to know for sure. But if that is the case, it is definitely something that can be overcome eventually. I'm sure the training staff would be trying different routines and diets to try to get it solved.

[old guy]

I think that the fact that this is EP40s 1st taste of real playoff hockey has him jolted. There are some big, mean, hairy-ass motherfuckers throwing a lot of weight around. Big hits and intimidating lines keying on you can get in your head if you're a slight-build 24 yr old. I am disappointed that he demanded so much and put the "I wanna play on a winner" bs out there instead of saying "I want to be a cornerstone in the making of a winning team". On the crappy side is his new contract. On the bright side is the fact that he is just turning 25 and has shown the work ethic to continuously work on his shortcomings to advance his play level. He has massive skill and drive but needs to put on some much needed weight in the form of muscle. He comes off as arrogant and aloof to me, but that don't matter worth a damn just personal bs and I will stress I've never met the kid, he could be the nicest guy ever. I just hope he gains some size, confidence  and a bit of a mean streak. His offensive play in the last couple of games has looked better. I'm interested to see what EP40-/25 looks like.

[Viking]

Needs to bulk up and not fall down every game. Team needs to get him a big winger that can play or just call up Carolina GM and see what the offer from them would be at the draft…

 

big off season for the soon to be 11.6m man! He best be a difference maker all year next season or he will be the talk of the town like he has been since the all star break…

 

 

[JeremyCuddles]

If we can move Mik maybe in some crazy world we can get Teravainen or Necas. Maybe they can get Petey going. Marchessault would be an intriguing older name player. A little on the small side though, especially if we run Hogs with Petey again. As for trade, we don't have the ammo for a trade. We spent it last season. And we might not even be able to retain the guys we spent the ammo on.

 

But more than that, he needs to get stronger. Like, a lot stronger. 11.6mil should get him a decent dietitian. Find a workout partner. The playoffs should have been a major eye opening moment that he needs to be stronger.

[43isprime]

Let's not pretend it was just playoff struggles. His form was poor for a large part of the season.

 

[IBatch]

On 5/20/2024 at 1:38 PM, MattJVD said:

My guess (pure speculation, of course) is that Petey's slight flame and high metabolism make it very hard for him to keep his weight and energy up over the course of a season. In the off-season where he can better regulate his training/rest cycles he gets into the shape he needs to be in and always stroms out of the gate at the begining of a season (and he did in the bubble playoffs after a long break). When the season gets going though, I think he is struggling to maintain his strength, mass, and explosiveness. I would guess this is why he often sits out optional skates: he needs extra time to eat and nap. 

 

Anyways, that's just a guess and no way to know for sure. But if that is the case, it is definitely something that can be overcome eventually. I'm sure the training staff would be trying different routines and diets to try to get it solved.

The guy will gain weight eventually and muscle mass.    They have all the help they could possibly ask for.    

[43isprime]

Pettersson had 95 points in 95 games this season. 19 points came in the first 10 games. 12 came in a 4 game stretch in January.

 

That leaves 64 points in the remaining 81 games.

 

The oft-cited "when he's on he's one of the best players in the league" tag is to me a red herring. 

 

Guess what - a lot of players look incredible when they're "on".

 

The mistake many make with Pettersson is assuming that the "on" form is his baseline instead of his absolute peak that he can't reasonably be expected to maintain.

 

He obviously has higher peaks than most players, but I think his level actually fluctuates (albeit with a high variance) about a mean that is really good, but not nearly elite. Many are blinded by the peaks and just assume they ought to persist, and attribute the troughs to slumps/injuries/one-offs.

 

Truly great players are simply so much better than their competition that they can produce even when they're off. They can always lean on one or two elite attributes to give them the edge when they're not feeling great or when the opposition keys in on them during the playoffs. I don't think that is true of Pettersson.

 

One thing that worries me in particular is how prolonged and poor these slumps can be, and that it doesn't seem we can count on him to be generate game in game out.

 

Maybe he proves me wrong going forward, but this is my read on him so far in his career.

 

[43isprime]

Isn't it ironic that people on SN650 (e.g., Bik and Sat, and Jamie) are now saying that Pettersson's poor form extends back to the All Star break, when in February and March they insisted he was fine ("hey he's still above ppg for the season!!").

 

Bik, prior to the contract signing, said there was a reasonable argument to be made for 13m AAV.

 

They were obviously waiting for him to flip a magic switch come playoff time so they could claim he was fine because he played well when it counted.

 

The refusal of the media to be objective about Pettersson's play throughout the season was stunning. 

[Alflives]

4 hours ago, 43isprime said:

Isn't it ironic that people on SN650 (e.g., Bik and Sat, and Jamie) are now saying that Pettersson's poor form extends back to the All Star break, when in February and March they insisted he was fine ("hey he's still above ppg for the season!!").

 

Bik, prior to the contract signing, said there was a reasonable argument to be made for 13m AAV.

 

They were obviously waiting for him to flip a magic switch come playoff time so they could claim he was fine because he played well when it counted.

 

The refusal of the media to be objective about Pettersson's play throughout the season was stunning. 

The media didn’t know that Petey has struggled with groin issues that have limited his skating. 

[43isprime]

On 3/4/2024 at 7:33 PM, Coryberg said:

Hilarious when people say "if you take out this point streak and that point streak he isn't as good".

 

Taking away parts that don't support your argument is the definition of cherry picking.

 

How do you feel about this now?

 

Maybe when Pettersson next season disappears for a 10-game stretch, it will be taken a bit more seriously instead of being brushed aside with accusations of cherry-picking.

 

[43isprime]

On 3/7/2024 at 6:51 AM, Metal Face Doom said:

It's hilarious.  Does he go on a cold streak once in a while? Sure.  Large stretches? Absolutely not.  90-100 point players don't go on large stretch droughts. 

 

6pts in 13 games...yeah just a once in a while cold streak that happened to cost the team a chance to play in the conference finals.

 

[43isprime]

On 3/5/2024 at 5:58 AM, The Lock said:

 

So to you then, being above a point per game's not good enough even though he plays a 200 foot game along with those points. 

 

You really seem to want to lean into Tocchets comments when I'm even pretty such Tocchet himself considers Pettersson to be an 11.6mil player despite being sporadic. He's sporadic based on how he's played at other times, meaning that when he's not sporadic, he's up there with the best of the best and for a bargain at that point.

 

Also, cherry picking involves ignoring ANY part of the season, doesn't matter the percentage, nor do I think you're even correct with that percentage. He's only really been sporadic since the all-star break since an 87 point pace could hardly be called sporadic in the first place when he's playing the full 200 foot game anyway.

 

Here, I'll debate the same way you do but the opposite. If you take out every bad game Pettersson's had, he should have been paid 13.5mil. Sounds stupid right? Yet, that's your argument but just the opposite direction.

 

6pts in 13 games...ignores the 82 previous games. I guess that's cherry-picking...so it must be inconsequential.

[43isprime]

On 3/7/2024 at 8:06 AM, 43isprime said:

 

For those saying it's "cherry-picking" to look at 56- and 21-game stretches, and who only care about the season aggregate, consider the fact that an entire Cup run might be around 24 games.

On top of that, a poor 4-7 game series could mean the team is done. Aggregates mean little in the playoffs when every game is high leverage.

 

I can't believe I have to say this, but consistency matters. It must be part of a player's valuation. 

 

 

Consistency matters. Must be part of a player's valuation.

 

[LillStrimma]

40 minutes ago, 43isprime said:

 

6pts in 13 games...yeah just a once in a while cold streak that happened to cost the team a chance to play in the conference finals.

 

I’m not sure how many times I have to say this over the years but here it comes again.

Petey would have alot more points if Miller didn’t take up the first spot of the team.

The first spot that means better chances on PP etc.

That is a fact wich we can prove if we analyze every single point by Miller and Petey during the seasons together.

Miller is damn good but he is not an Alien(this is not a dig on Miller for those who takes discussions as offensive attacks against themselves).

 

It led Petey to elevate his game the season before so he was one of the best 5v5.

So normally people would talk about how cheap Petey is for 8 years…  

 

 

 

[43isprime]

On 3/8/2024 at 8:12 AM, MeanSeanBean said:

It doesn't illustrate nearly as much as I reckon you think it does. Nothing you have said has swayed my opinion on the subject, and I still say Pettersson a contract is good value irregardless of Mac's contract. Quite frankly, the fact you opened this dialogue with a full on falsity set the tone for me, so I don't think we are going to see eye to eye.

 

Points per game doesn't matter right? Just total points? Mario Lemieux finished his career with 1723 pts...Yzerman with 1755. I guess that makes Yzerman even more of an offensive force than Lemieux.

 

Also...strange how many players had their points totals crater in the 2019-20 and 2021 seasons. Wonder how people explain that. 

 

[MeanSeanBean]

2 hours ago, 43isprime said:

 

Points per game doesn't matter right? Just total points? Mario Lemieux finished his career with 1723 pts...Yzerman with 1755. I guess that makes Yzerman even more of an offensive force than Lemieux.

 

Also...strange how many players had their points totals crater in the 2019-20 and 2021 seasons. Wonder how people explain that. 

 

Lol months later you respond with completely random stats? It's been so long I don't remember, nor care what we were talking about. But based off my previous post, you were speaking in falsities before so it's probably best I lost interest. What is interesting though, some random poster with no posts ever seems to like everything you do. Curious, anyways...

 

But I can safely say nothing you have said has still swayed my opinion in either way.

Edited May 28 by MeanSeanBean

[43isprime]

51 minutes ago, MeanSeanBean said:

Lol months later you respond with completely random stats? It's been so long I don't remember, nor care what we were talking about. But based off my previous post, you were speaking in falsities before so it's probably best I lost interest. What is interesting though, some random poster with no posts ever seems to like everything you do. Curious, anyways...

 

But I can safely say nothing you have said has still swayed my opinion in either way.

 

All it takes is a couple of clicks to see your refusal to acknowledge that comparing point totals without accounting for games played is meaningless, going so far as to say "it would be absurd to refuse to compare any players who didn't play the same amount of games in contact sport," as if points per game or 82-game pace was not a thing.

 

 

[Bob Long]

4 minutes ago, 43isprime said:

 

All it takes is a couple of clicks to see your refusal to acknowledge that comparing point totals without accounting for games played is meaningless, going so far as to say "it would be absurd to refuse to compare any players who didn't play the same amount of games in contact sport," as if points per game or 82-game pace was not a thing.

 

 

 

You're obsessed.

[43isprime]

7 minutes ago, Bob Long said:

 

You're obsessed.

 

I'm going to sign off, but I just wanted to point out the lack of objectivity in evaluating Pettersson here and especially in the media over the course of this season. I really hope that people start holding Pettersson to a higher standard next year, not just in terms of points totals, but also consistency. And I hope he has a great year and outplays his contract.

 

Mostly, I hope the team builds on this incredible year, and that we all have lots to cheer about in the coming years.

 

[The Lock]

4 hours ago, 43isprime said:

 

6pts in 13 games...ignores the 82 previous games. I guess that's cherry-picking...so it must be inconsequential.

 

Dude. Our discussion was from months ago before the playoffs and now you're going to claim that I could literally see into the future and cherry pick stats that didn't exist during our discussion?

 

Seriously. How weak-minded do you have to be to hold grudges so much that you come back in 3 months to start trolling everyone? Go get some mental health dude.

[The Lock]

3 minutes ago, 43isprime said:

 

I'm going to sign off, but I just wanted to point out the lack of objectivity in evaluating Pettersson here and especially in the media over the course of this season. I really hope that people start holding Pettersson to a higher standard next year, not just in terms of points totals, but also consistency. And I hope he has a great year and outplays his contract.

 

Mostly, I hope the team builds on this incredible year, and that we all have lots to cheer about in the coming years.

 

 

All you proved was how much you hold grudges, nothing more.