VANCOUVER — Elias Pettersson had little interest in discussing trade rumors and not much more to say about being benched during the final half of the third period of the Vancouver Canucks’ 5-1 loss at the Seattle Kraken on Saturday.
The forward sat for the final 9:47 of the game, including 2:23 with goalie Kevin Lankinen pulled for an extra attacker.
Pettersson said on Monday that he respected coach Adam Foote’s decision and that he needs to be better, but the benching did little to quiet the talk about his future in Vancouver.
“It’s [the media] who makes the trade rumor, so ask yourself,” he said.
Canucks president of hockey operations Jim Rutherford didn’t sound like anything was imminent during an appearance Thursday on the “100% Hockey” podcast.
“If somebody made a great offer, we’d have to look at it,” he said. “But it’s not a guy that we feel we have to get out there and shop.”
Monday marked the second anniversary of Pettersson signing an eight-year, $92.8 million contract ($11.6 million average annual value).
At the time, Vancouver was on its way to winning a division title for the first time in 11 seasons, and Pettersson was second on the Canucks with 75 points (29 goals, 46 assists) in 62 games. He’d go on to finish the season with 89 points (34 goals, 55 assists) in 82 games.
However, in the 2024 Stanley Cup Playoffs, he had just six points (one goal, five assists) in 13 games.
Pettersson’s scoring has continued to decline last season, when he had 45 points (15 goals, 30 assists) in 64 games. He has 35 points (13 goals, 22 assists) in 51 games this season entering Vancouver’s game against the Dallas Stars on Monday (10 p.m. ET; TVAS, SNP, Victory+).
“I mean, I haven’t lived up to expectations of the contract, and I’ll be the first one to say it,” Pettersson said. “Obviously, I wish it would be different, I’ll have played better, a lot more points, but it is what it is. I’m just trying to play a game tonight and see what happens.”
