Canucks head coach Rick Tocchet criticizes but offers advice to Elias Pettersson after terrible start

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Maverick Mitchell
October 24, 2024 (7:32 PM)

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At this point, talking about Elias Pettersson and his on ice issues is starting to sound like a broken record... But the reality is, he is struggling, and head coach Rick Tocchet criticized him for his play, but also offered some much needed guidance.

In our humble opinion, Elias Pettersson is getting way to bad of a wrap right now, yes, his play is not living up to his contract, that is for certain, but it only being 5 games in, the sample size is not large enough to throw him to the pasture.

On one hand though, and forget about the numbers, we do believe there is something going on mentally or physically because his effort and plays we are used to seeing out of him is just not present at the moment, and head coach Rick Tocchett is just as aware.

Canucks Head Coach Rick Tocchet criticizes but offers advice to Elias Pettersson

After practice, Rick Tocchet spoke to the media about Elias Pettersson, and what he feels they need to work on with him to get his game back to what we normally are used too.

«I think everybody knows that we've got to get him to move his feet,» said head coach Rick Tocchet when discussing Pettersson's play yesterday after practice. «And when he has the puck, [to] make some plays, in the sense of, I don't care if he makes a mistake, it's about being more aggressive.»

«I think a lot of times when he's standing around, he gets in trouble. That's the mental part; we've got to keep working with him.»

These comments out of Tocchet is healthy criticism, he is not calling him out or grilling him, he is stating what work needs to be put in in order to get the best out of EP40. He went on to talk about the difficulties of playing in a market like Vancouver, and how to deal with it.

«We always talk about it here, especially this market; you've got to block out the noise,» said Tocchet when asked about the scrutiny Pettersson is facing.

What do you think of Rock Tocchet's comments on Elias Pettersson?