New developments on Pettersson's Canucks future are sending shockwaves through the NHL
Chris Higgins took the gloves off Thursday and said out loud what plenty of people around the Vancouver Canucks have been whispering for months.
The former Canucks development staff member implied Elias Pettersson has character issues. Then he went further. "It's time to get rid of guys like that."
That's a direct shot from someone who used to work inside the building.
Higgins isn't just a fan on social media. He's a former teammate who later worked in the organization's player development pipeline.
The quote lands the same week Brian Burke said someone will absolutely give Pettersson another chance somewhere.
The conversation around the Swedish center keeps getting louder.
Pettersson's regular season tells the on-ice version of the story. The 27-year-old finished at 15 goals, 36 assists and 51 points in 74 games at minus-30.
His last 10 games produced zero goals, 6 points, and a minus-7 rating. The 11.6 million cap hit kept paying. The production kept slipping.
-
Ryan Johnson inherits the Pettersson question on day one
The new Canucks general manager Ryan Johnson walked into the job this week and immediately faces the most expensive personnel decision in franchise history.
Rick Dhaliwal reported Johnson didn't pitch ownership a 2-3 year plan.
The Vancouver front office knows this rebuild will take time, and the Pettersson contract is the anchor that has to move first.
Higgins giving the public a peek behind the curtain doesn't help that trade conversation. Other teams now have ammunition to drive the asking price down.
But the quote also confirms what most around the league already suspected.
The Pettersson era in Vancouver has run out of patience inside the building, not just outside it.
The Sedin twins are running hockey operations now. They have history with Pettersson and the kind of credibility no public statement could match.
If they side with Johnson on a trade, the deal happens. If they want to give Pettersson one more chance, the contract stays put.
The fan base seems ready to move on. Higgins just gave that fan base a former insider on its side.
The cap math doesn't get any friendlier with six years left on Pettersson's contract.
Teams that pay attention to character grades will push the price down. Teams that bet on the upside will look for a discount anyway.
Where Pettersson lands next is anyone's guess. That he lands somewhere new feels closer by the week.
The Canucks have a draft, a free agency window, and a captain question all in the next 90 days. The Pettersson call is the one that defines everything.
|
YESTERDAY
MAY 14, 2026
| ||||
| G | A | PTS | ||
| Nick Suzuki | 1 | 2 | 3 | |
| Juraj Slafkovsky | - | 3 | 3 | |
| Pavel Dorofeyev | 2 | - | 2 | |
| Ivan Demidov | 1 | 1 | 2 | |
| Mitch Marner | 1 | 1 | 2 | |
| Shea Theodore | 1 | 1 | 2 | |
| Phillip Danault | - | 2 | 2 | |
| Lane Hutson | - | 2 | 2 | |
| Josh Anderson | 1 | - | 1 | |
| Cole Caufield | 1 | - | 1 | |
| Josh Doan | 1 | - | 1 | |
| Jake Evans | 1 | - | 1 | |
| Mikael Granlund | 1 | - | 1 | |
| Konsta Helenius | 1 | - | 1 | |
| Brett Howden | 1 | - | 1 | |
| Alexandre Texier | 1 | - | 1 | |
| Jason Zucker | 1 | - | 1 | |
| Rasmus Andersson | - | 1 | 1 | |
| Ivan Barbashev | - | 1 | 1 | |
| Leo Carlsson | - | 1 | 1 | |
| COMPLETE STATS | ||||