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NHL analyst puts $92.8M Elias Pettersson on hot seat for a successful Canucks campaign next season
Analyst Farhan Lalji has put the spotlight on Vancouver Canucks star Elias Pettersson, anticipating a successful campaign for him in the upcoming season.
Petersson made headlines by signing an eight-year, $92.8 million ($11.6 AAV) contract in March. However, in the last season, the 25-year-old's performance saw a slight dip compared to his exceptional performance of 102 points in the previous term.
Despite his undeniable talent, there are concerns about Elias Pettersson's ability to handle external pressure and meet high expectations. Farhan, joining Jay Onrait on "SportsCentre," discussed the mounting pressure on Pettersson as he heads to the upcoming season.
The analyst criticized Pettersson's ability to manage pressure:
"Absolutely immense, immense amount of pressure, and I'm not sure he's up for it, and that's not a criticism of him as a player, but he is a player that lets the outside noise in, and it does affect him."
Additionally, Lalji raised questions about the extent to which Pettersson's injury during the playoffs may have affected his gameplay, noting discrepancies between the player's perspective on the injury and the club's assessment.
"And on top of that, we also aren't really sure how much the injury affected him in the playoffs because, when you look at Pettersson's description of it at the end of the season, he certainly felt it was a little more serious than maybe say the team did.
"So that was a long period of time really after the All-Star break through the entire playoffs where he simply wasn't the same player."
The analyst pointed out that everyone will be closely watching Elias Pettersson in the upcoming season. He highlighted that Pettersson's performance will be crucial for the team:
"Hopefully, the summer is enough to put all of this behind them, but everybody in this marketplace is going to have their eyes squarely on Elias Pettersson because when you talk about whether this team is better or worse or more equipped for playoff success."
The analyst's remarks stress the importance of Pettersson's role and the pressure on him to excel for the Vancouver Canucks in the upcoming season and help the team make another deep playoff run.
How has Elias Pettersson fared for the Canucks?
Drafted with the fifth overall pick in the 2017 NHL draft, Petterson has been with the Canucks since then. The 25-year-old Swedish forward made his league debut a year later and scored against the Flames on his NHL debut.
Pettersson has accumulated 412 points through 170 goals and 242 assists for the Canucks in six seasons spanning 407 games. This past season, he racked up 89 points (34 goals and 55 assists) in 82 games.
In the playoffs, Elias Pettersson has accumulated six goals and six points in 13 games.
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