Irf Gaffar of The Daily Faceoff joined TFP Hotstove Saturday on Sirius XM NHL Network Radio with Dave Pagnotta, Dennis Bernstein, and Ryan Paton. There, he was asked about Elias Pettersson's future with the Vancouver Canucks.
Writing for NHLRumors.com
The Vancouver Canucks and Elias Pettersson Need to Have a Real Talk
Ryan Paton: “Henrik and Daniel Sedin had some comments on Elias Pettersson. They were asked about him during the rest and the preparation, and whether they were directly or indirectly to him, saying, “You know what, everyone has to be prepared and ready to go when the training camp comes. He will be under the gun again, as he has been here. Where do you think this new position is with Daniel and Henrik, even Ryan Johnson coming in, do you think that's going to be a good thing, hopefully for Pettersson, whatever he's going through?”
Irf Gaffar: “JT Miller told Pettersson recently that he needs to be in better shape, and look what happened to JT Miller. So there is an answer, right? It's a well-known thing, right? Look, I'll give him knee tendinitis, one year he got an injury, and then obviously everything that happened in his personal life. There, there is, when you're paid slowly, but finally you pay slowly. US$11.6 million time is over.
Like, he's a guy who needs to be a franchise player; he will be the highest, highest paid player on the other 25 teams in the National Hockey League. Like, that's a huge burden for Elias Pettersson to carry. And I think if Daniel and Henrik Sedin can't get past Elias Pettersson, who's going to step in at this point, right? That's right.
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And I'm not talking about Elias Pettersson as a 20-21-year-old player, a 22-year-old player, trying to find his way in the National Hockey League. Like this guy, it's like he's in the National Hockey League. He got his big contract, now he's going to lean on the middle of the night, so we'll see.
I mean, the conversations around the National Hockey League, or people coming out of him. He doesn't know if he can get that 102 point form back. We will have to wait and see what happens. But yes, Pates, I mean, like preparation is key. You have to come to camp in shape, and for me, you lead by example.
You don't want to, if I'm Elias Pettersson, I don't want to come to the camp in shape, I want to come to the camp and be a boy and be like him, I'm in the best shape. You should all come and hold me up, like that's the example I think the fans want to see from him.
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That's the example that I think the front office and ownership want to see from him, and hopefully at some point it will be up to him to see that this summer, that, okay, because the rest, well, we would have to look at it and trade it.
But you know the most annoying thing, and maybe the most embarrassing thing, is when you hear reports coming out that there is, there is no market for Elias Pettersson right now. Like this guy, you know what I mean, like he's a top player, he should be a top player in the National Hockey League, and teams should be after him. But because of what we've heard, and because of what we know, it's not there.”
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