Pettersson - the dilemma - what to do with him?

Nothing evokes emotion in the Vancouver Canucks fan base like suggesting one of their prized prospects might not be all he's cracked up to be. So with expectations of hate mail I present the argument that Pettersson isn't ready for primetime.

Pettersson has 5 points in 4 pre-season games - all on the PP.
It includes 1 goal which was a pass - and 4 secondary assists where he essentially passed the puck to Bo Horvat.

So to reiterate - Pettersson hasn't a single point at even strength against non-NHL rosters in pre-season.

And that is a problem for the Vancouver Canucks whether fans and media (aren't they one in the same?) care to acknowledge it or not.

Pettersson has been the lead center for the Canucks.
He's been given every single opportunity to shine here and to make the team.

However, all that it has proven is that he can't score goals in regular strength play, nor drive offense at regular strength.

In fact, the Canucks have 3 goals at even strength this pre-season.

And Brock Boeser, who lit up the "Beauty League" has gone goalless in his appearances.

And furthermore on the power play, because the team is passing the puck to Pettersson you would think under orders from their PP coach, they have not got a single good look for Boeser.

It would appear in the early stages here that it's either Pettersson or it's Boeser but you can't feature both on the power play.

And since Pettersson can't beat an NHL goalie with a shot - you'd think the real answer is to bump young Pettersson off the PP and put someone who can pass just the same like a Baertchi in that role.

And so if you dump Pettersson off the PP to feature Boeser then what do you do with Pettersson?

If he can't play 2nd line center - then where is he going to play?

And what about the development of Jake Virtanen? The guy that would seem to have "earned it" but was bypassed off the 1st line PP and has yet to feature his shot - the very thing they drafted the guy for. The argument "Pettersson has hockey sense".

Pettersson might be able to pass the puck on the PP but he can't at even strength - and Virtanen could do the exact same thing on the top PP unit if given a chance. And he sure as hell hasn't been.

It's dumbfounding to be sure.

Imagine if you will, after this pre-season, they enter the regular season, and Pettersson continues to show he can't beat anyone 5 on 5 - well how do you think that's going to affect the Horvat line?

Opposing teams are going to load up and shut down Horvat.

And that will be that for the Canucks this season. Not only will they lose possibly 65 games - they'll do it in excruciating fashion - 4-1 every night. They might not make it to 120 goals this season. And they surely won't be getting 8 PP chances per night.

And if you're not revving Boeser's motor - then what are you doing with this team moving forward?

And if you move Pettersson to the wing, his natural position, then what do you do next year? Assuming they don't win the 1st overall pick and draft Jack Hughes - they won't have a center next year unless

UNLESS

They move Pettersson down to Utica where he can learn the center position and learn to drive offense 5 on 5.

Imagine if you will this team struggles to find traction out of the gate - and Pettersson goes 20 games without an even strength goal? And they're shutdown on the PP? And Boeser is goalless through 20 games because he's not feature on the PP?

This could get very bad indeed for the Canucks.

Not scoring is bad.
But not scoring and losing is really bad.

The shine will come off Pettersson in a real big hurry. He may never recover from that kind of season.

That's why bringing in a Jason Spezza would solve a lot of problems for this team.

It buys time for Pettersson. And it makes the Canucks somewhat watchable.

And, who knows? Maybe Spezza catches lightning in a bottle playing with Virtanen.

Maybe they start featuring Virtanen on the top PP for a shot. Maybe their Utica Comets have a tremendous season where Pettersson scores goals and they win the Calder Cup.

Well, now you have something moving forward, especially with another high pick.

But there's only downside here playing Pettersson in the NHL right out of the gate.

Now, who knows, maybe he figures it out in the remaining pre-season games and starts driving offense.

But if he doesn't - then the red flags need to be thrown here by someone in management or ownership to save their prized rookie from humiliation he may never recover from.




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