Sportsnet: Elliotte Friedman on the Halford and Brough Show when asked how much of Elias Pettersson’s decision to extend with the Vancouver Canucks is based on how the team does this season.
** NHLRumors.com transcription
Halford: “So your conversation with Petey. I guess we can get into the rest of the conversation but I think the big question I have is how much of Petey’s decision to sign or not sign with the Canucks is going to hinge on how the team fares this season?”
Friedman: “I would say a lot of it. Almost all of it. Jason, I’ve been thinking about, is it okay to share with the question you asked me by text, cause I was thinking about that?
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Halford: “Sure. Yeah, yeah.
So my question was, how much of it is a negotiating ploy versus how much of it hinging on the team this season?”
Friedman: “See, I don’t think it is a negotiating ploy at all. I think that’s got basically nothing to do with it. I have no reason to believe … I think the Vancouver Canucks know that Pettersson is going to be very highly paid. And I think that they are more than understanding that it’s going to take a big deal to get him done.
I don’t think there’s any reticence from the Vancouver Canucks to sign him whatsoever. So I don’t think that is any part of the equation and I don’t think any of this… I think in Nylander’s case there is definitely a gap and that’s a problem. Got to figure out a way to bridge the gap. I don’t think that’s the case with Pettersson and one of the reasons is, everybody in Vancouver knows that he’s not a UFA after this year. It’s not as urgent in that way. There is time to figure this out.
As Pettersson said in the interview, he’s not sure yet if he sees, his next contract is long-term or a short-term one. He hasn’t even gotten there really. This is all about, how does he feel about the organization. So, everything the organizations done to try and straighten things out and to get them into a position to win, I think that he wants to make sure it’s going to work.
Now, I think it’s important to note here that I didn’t get any sense at all that he thinks the plan is terrible. I didn’t get any sense at all that he thinks the people running the Canucks or coaching the Canucks don’t know what they are doing. I just think he wants to make sure and I think it’s important to point out too that he knows that part of the Canucks having a successful season is him duplicating or exceeding the year he had last year. And he’s very serious about it.
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Like I said in the podcast on the boat trip, he brought a lunch, and it’s a lunch prepared for him by a chef. And you know, he’s stronger. He talked about how he looked two years ago and how he looks now. And he’s still really lean, like I don’t think he’s ever going to be like an angry Bruce Banner but he understands that there are things he can do to make himself powerful and he’s committed to that.
So Jason, I do not believe this is a negotiation tactic. I think this is purely about, does he see the plan come to some degree of fruition this year.”