Canucks left with Elias Pettersson trade problem after Olympics
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Canucks left with Elias Pettersson trade problem after Olympics originally appeared on The Sporting News. Add The Sporting News as a Preferred Source by clicking here.
If the Vancouver Canucks were hoping Elias Pettersson would raise his stock for a trade while playing for Sweden at the Winter Olympics, they probably ended up disappointed.
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The odd Swedish playing time decisions of the entire tournament meant that Pettersson played less than 11 minutes per game.
It's hard to know whether that's an indictment of Pettersson's talent or simply the way Sweden decided to do things, but Daily Faceoff's Matt Larkin writes that it drops Pettersson's trade stock either way.
"If we subscribed to the idea that a new team could unlock him, playing for Team Sweden could’ve served as a great audition," Larkin writes. "But Hallam, scrutinized all tournament for his numerous odd decisions, played Pettersson a piddly 10:55 per game."
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There are still a lot of believers in what Pettersson can do.
The key for the Canucks, if they decide to continue their rebuild that already including dealing away Quinn Hughes, is getting another NHL team to believe in him. The Olympics didn't help that cause.
"Most of us haven’t given up on Pettersson," Larkin writes. "He’s still just 27, and while his speed has declined significantly, his package of shooting ability and two-way smarts still gives him a star-grade ceiling."
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The other complicating factor for Pettersson is his contract, which still has another half-decade on it. He's not a rental.
An acquiring team is really vouching that it wants Pettersson to be around for a bunch of years.
All of this makes it just a bit tougher for the Canucks to make a deal.
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