Pettersson/Miller

[Nuckertuzzi]

Boudreau has also mentioned a couple of times that he deployed Peter much differently than Tocchet has and it's probably eaten away at his confidence. I really hope he's right.

Sounds like sour grapes to me. Petey was at his best point producing pace of career under Toc's first 80 games or so.

[Megaterio Llamas]

Boudreau has also mentioned a couple of times that he deployed Peter much differently than Tocchet has and it's probably eaten away at his confidence. I really hope he's right.

Sounds like sour grapes to me. Petey was at his best point producing pace of career under Toc's first 80 games or so.

Good point. I'm admittedly grasping at straws to try to figure this out.

[Nuckertuzzi]

It's not coaching. It's not a lack of try. Anybody who thinks that need to give their heads a shake. As if this once proud star player wants to all of a sudden suck because he got the money now and can coast for the next 8 years. Yeah right, I'm sure he enjoys being a shitty player and welcome all the hate/abuse from fans, media, fellow players, coaches and management alike (I haven't seen it to this level, not even the Sedins sisters years which were quite bad too).

I don't know what exactly happened but his game fell off a cliff well before the big contract. It was so abrupt and not a gradual decline. This tells me it started as something physical, then turned into mental and I'm guessing all the pressure and vitriol has only compounded with whatever's happening upstairs.

Does this mean he's too mentally weak to be a player we can move forward with? I could buy that argument more than a guy who's given up and collecting a paycheque. If he truly is mentally weak, then why not just leave to a quieter market when he had two chances to? Instead both times told management he wants to stay. He wants the pressure, he'll take the abuse. Doesn't sound like a mentally weak player to me.

I think it's both a physical and confidence thing now. Physical because the skating and shot looks so off (the mechanics looked really odd on that one-timer misfire the other day). The will and try is there because without the puck I still see a guy working his ass off and throwing his body around. He just looks tentative and lost at times with the puck in the O zone. Confidence is his worst enemy right now.

[Megaterio Llamas]

It's not coaching. It's not a lack of try. Anybody who thinks that need to give their heads a shake. As if this once proud star player wants to all of a sudden suck because he got the money now and can coast for the next 8 years. Yeah right, I'm sure he enjoys being a shitty player and welcome all the hate/abuse from fans, media, fellow players, coaches and management alike (I haven't seen it to this level, not even the Sedins sisters years which were quite bad too).

I don't know what exactly happened but his game fell off a cliff well before the big contract. It was so abrupt and not a gradual decline. This tells me it started as something physical, then turned into mental and I'm guessing all the pressure and vitriol has only compounded with whatever's happening upstairs.

Does this mean he's too mentally weak to be a player we can move forward with? I could buy that argument more than a guy who's given up and collecting a paycheque. If he truly is mentally weak, then why not just leave to a quieter market when he had two chances to? Instead both times told management he wants to stay. He wants the pressure, he'll take the abuse. Doesn't sound like a mentally weak player to me.

I think it's both a physical and confidence thing now. Physical because the skating and shot looks so off (the mechanics looked really odd on that one-timer misfire the other day). The will and try is there because without the puck I still see a guy working his ass off and throwing his body around. He just looks tentative and lost at times with the puck in the O zone. Confidence is his worst enemy right now.

Whatever it is he better figure it out pretty soon if he wants to stick around here.

[Cornuck]

Whatever it is he better figure it out pretty soon if he wants to stick around here.

Which may be the bigger question.

[Megaterio Llamas]

Whatever it is he better figure it out pretty soon if he wants to stick around here.

Which may be the bigger question.

For sure. I've considered the working to rule angle myself.

[Cousin Strawberry]

It's not coaching. It's not a lack of try. Anybody who thinks that need to give their heads a shake. As if this once proud star player wants to all of a sudden suck because he got the money now and can coast for the next 8 years. Yeah right, I'm sure he enjoys being a shitty player and welcome all the hate/abuse from fans, media, fellow players, coaches and management alike (I haven't seen it to this level, not even the Sedins sisters years which were quite bad too).

I don't know what exactly happened but his game fell off a cliff well before the big contract. It was so abrupt and not a gradual decline. This tells me it started as something physical, then turned into mental and I'm guessing all the pressure and vitriol has only compounded with whatever's happening upstairs.

Does this mean he's too mentally weak to be a player we can move forward with? I could buy that argument more than a guy who's given up and collecting a paycheque. If he truly is mentally weak, then why not just leave to a quieter market when he had two chances to? Instead both times told management he wants to stay. He wants the pressure, he'll take the abuse. Doesn't sound like a mentally weak player to me.

I think it's both a physical and confidence thing now. Physical because the skating and shot looks so off (the mechanics looked really odd on that one-timer misfire the other day). The will and try is there because without the puck I still see a guy working his ass off and throwing his body around. He just looks tentative and lost at times with the puck in the O zone. Confidence is his worst enemy right now.

Excellent post Nuckertuzzi.

I always think back a few years, right before he had a sharp uptick in his effectiveness. He went through a short stint where he looked much like this.

A mental fortitude issue?

[Nuckertuzzi]

I always think back a few years, right before he had a sharp uptick in his effectiveness. He went through a short stint where he looked much like this.

A mental fortitude issue?

I think that stint coincided with a wrist issue. Could it be a recurrence of that or something similar? As mentioned, his shot mechanics looks really awkward to me. I don't believe it's his wrist. I think it's lower body, which can definitely affect your shot. You see it in his stride that something is hindering his skating, whether it's that supposed tendonitis on the knee that comes and goes or what, but I have seen him skate well in a stretch of a few games then back to a struggle. Something is messing with his shot beyond tentativity from a lack of confidence.

[JelloPuddingPop]

Could just be really out of shape, got hurt last year - didn't train properly to overcome it, showed up to camp below average - and just can't Phil Kessel it up.

[Nuckertuzzi]

Definitely didn't train well. You saw it pretty early in the preseason. Laziness or hindrance? Shocked if it was the former after everybody and their sister harshly yet justifiably spent all summer blaming you for the playoff failure.

[MJN]

It might be confirmation bias on my part, but it seems to me that most players under-perform in their first year after signing a huge contract. It would be a complete change in lifestyle to now getting 500k every two weeks. He will figure it out. Having said that, it wouldn't bother me for a minute if he went on to score 100 pts a year for another team if there is a satisfactory return.

[Meds]

His drop in production also coincided with teams playing tough, physical, defense, on him. Sending their stronger guys at him to push him around.

He also doesn’t have the foot speed to create space for himself. He gets the puck and if the pass isn’t totally perfectly timed and placed the defender fills the shooting lane and he can’t take a quick enough step to put the puck into a lane and let it go.

Petey has a really great writer…..but it’s not quick. It’s a drag and flex of the stick. He’s no Sakic.

Tonight’s game against San Jose was not a Petey who didn’t try. He just got outmuscled…..often.

[Canuckbröd]

well at least based on Allvin's latest comments, Petey's working on getting better

""
Pettersson's struggles are amplified by the fact that he is the team's highest-paid player. The Swedish center signed an eight-year, $92.8 million contract extension at the end of last season and has the fifth-highest cap hit in the NHL. When asked about Pettersson's struggles this season, Allvin explained that in order for the 26-year-old to meet his potential, he needs to put in more work both on and off the ice.


"I think part of it is the preparedness," said Allvin. "How you come in every day and want to improve and work on your game. The league is changing. You can't just be doing the things you've done in the past. You gotta always get better. I think that's how the best players are continuing to be the best players in the league. I think that's where Elias has realized here that he's got to work on his game. We all know what talent he has and what he's capable of, and he's just gotta continue to work on his game."
""

""
"Every day is an opportunity to get better, and that’s the mindset he needs to have. When he does that and works on his game, he’ll reach his full potential. We have all the resources on our staff to help him, and he’s expressed that he’s willing to put in the work," he added.
""

Ideally it'd happen over night but most likely it'll have to happen gradually

I'm guessing he has until the draft time to prove his progress

fingers crossed

[Nuckertuzzi]

His drop in production also coincided with teams playing tough, physical, defense, on him. Sending their stronger guys at him to push him around.

He also doesn’t have the foot speed to create space for himself. He gets the puck and if the pass isn’t totally perfectly timed and placed the defender fills the shooting lane and he can’t take a quick enough step to put the puck into a lane and let it go.

Petey has a really great writer…..but it’s not quick. It’s a drag and flex of the stick. He’s no Sakic.

Tonight’s game against San Jose was not a Petey who didn’t try. He just got outmuscled…..often.

Getting outmuscled easily is certainly a factor. What doesn't add up is how he can produce so well despite it in the past when he was averaging 1.3 ppg for a stretch of about 130 games right before the abrupt drop off. He was so much quicker, mostly in the decision making with quick precise plays and consistently loading the one-time bomb on the right side. Then when the drop off came it was a cliff, not a long gradual slope. It makes no sense for the guy to all of a sudden stop playing in a contract year when he had yet to renew and wasn't expecting to until the offseason. Something happened physically. Defenders didn't play him any differently then compared to before. It just appeared that way because his quickness dropped and they were able to get to him.

Your assessment on his wrist shot is accurate. He doesn't get it off quickly and never really has, yet it worked well for him in the past. Whatever messed with his game messed with his shot and his confidence in it. Today on the PP he was parked right in his wheelhouse for those old one-timers, and he had plenty of room to work with with the Sharks backing off and playing lower. In the past, when you focus on him there without the puck you can see him set up for the shot. Today, and for the past year really, there is no indication of it like the last thing he wants to do is shoot.

He also doesn’t have the foot speed to create space for himself. He gets the puck and if the pass isn’t totally perfectly timed and placed the defender fills the shooting lane and he can’t take a quick enough step to put the puck into a lane and let it go.

Pre drop off this wasn't an issue. If a shooting lane was taken away he'd use a teammate with a quick play for a better option or to reopen it. Remember when he and Quinn would play catch repeatedly until he saw some daylight and let it go? Seems so long ago.

[Blob Mckenzie]

Definitely didn't train well. You saw it pretty early in the preseason. Laziness or hindrance? Shocked if it was the former after everybody and their sister harshly yet justifiably spent all summer blaming you for the playoff failure.

I'm delving through this thread but this player can definitely help himself by following a serious fitness/strength regime.

The twins could have played a few more years had they been on a good team.

Look at Sid. He could play till 45 because he is a physical beast. Chelios... the body is what you make of it. Doughtyvwill have to be dragged off the ice.

Does Petey have that juice. He needs to prove it. Its shitty how everyone drew a line in the sand.


Play the game 40. Be a winner. God knows we need it. I trust management is treating the next 4 months as an audition. Figure it out or just trim the salary. This has been a fiasco and he has a part in it.