Pettersson says contract talks with Canucks 'on hold,' focused on season

STOCKHOLM --Elias Pettersson said contract talks with the Vancouver Canucks are "on hold" because he wants to focus on preparing for this season and he doesn't know yet if he wants to sign long term or short term.

The 24-year-old center can become a restricted free agent after this season and is eligible to sign a new contract now.

"I've just put that on hold," Pettersson told NHL.com at the NHL European Player Media Tour on Wednesday. "I still have one more year left. I've been wanting to focus on training this summer and the contract will sort itself out."

Pettersson, who is entering the final year of a three-year, $22.05 million contract ($7.35 million average annual value) he signed Oct. 3, 2021, said part of his hesitation to dive into contract talks now is because he doesn't know how long he wants the deal to be.

"It's a big topic obviously, and I don't have the answer myself," he said. "I just want to focus on the season."

Selected by the Canucks with the No. 5 pick in the 2017 NHL Draft, Pettersson finished 10th in the NHL in scoring last season with League career highs in goals (39), assists (63), points (102) and shots on goal (257). He is averaging nearly a point per game in his NHL career, with 323 points (136 goals, 187 assists) in 325 games and 18 points (seven goals, 11 assists) in 17 Stanley Cup Playoff games.

"I think I really found my game, what I need to do to play my best," Pettersson said. "I want to be a two-way center. I want them to depend on me in the 'D' zone as much as the offensive zone."

He said one area of focus this offseason is face-offs. He finished with a face-off percentage of 44.3 percent last season, which ranked tied for 97th among centers who took at least 500 face-offs.

"Obviously, I have to work on my draws, which I am, which also comes with strength," Pettersson said. "I just want to become better at every aspect of the game. I'm very happy with my season last year but that just made me hungry to continue that."

Vancouver went 38-37-7 last season, missing the playoffs for the third straight season. But it went 20-12-4 after Rick Tocchet replaced Bruce Boudreau as coach Jan. 22.

Petterrson said he thinks the Canucks are "moving in the right direction" after the strong second half, and with the additions of defensemen Ian Cole and Carson Soucy and forward Teddy Blueger in free agency.

"At the end of the day I just want to win and I think we have some really good things going now in Vancouver," Pettersson said. "We've made some good trades and I think we had a good free agency, we got some good players.

"I think we got a good feeling about what it takes to be a good team and we just have to build on what we started at the end of last season."