Analyst calls out Elias Pettersson's mental toughness

He's one of the most important players on the roster, but just how mentally tough is Vancouver Canucks forward Elias Pettersson? 

He's valuable enough to the franchise that they elected to reward him with a hefty commitment of $92.8 million over eight seasons, an AAV of $11.6 million. However, as sometimes happens, Pettersson was one of many players to suffer a physical setback during the Stanley Cup Playoffs, limiting his effectiveness. 

And according to analyst Farhan Lalji of TSN, he may not be up to the mental challenge that comes with the expectations of his contract. 

"Absolutely immense, immense amount of pressure, and I'm not sure he's up for it, and that's not a criticism of him as a player, but he is a player that lets the outside noise in, and it does affect him," Lalji said. 

"And on top of that, we also aren't really sure how much the injury affected him in the playoffs because, when you look at Pettersson's description of it at the end of the season, he certainly felt it was a little more serious than maybe say the team did. "So that was a long period of time really after the All-Star break through the entire playoffs where he simply wasn't the same player."

Whether he likes it or not, Pettersson will have eyes on him given the enormity of his contract along with the expectations to produce. 

"Hopefully, the summer is enough to put all of this behind them, but everybody in this marketplace is going to have their eyes squarely on Elias Pettersson because when you talk about whether this team is better or worse or more equipped for playoff success," he said. 

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