Elias Pettersson's struggles manifest in practice scuffle with teammate

Elias Pettersson knows better than anyone that more is expected from him, especially after signing an eight-year, $92.8 million contract extension in March of last season. Certainly, three points -- all assists -- through six games for the Canucks to begin the 2024-25 campaign just isn't going to cut it, when you're the highest-paid player on the team.

Last Friday, we wrote about the potential psychological implications behind Pettersson's struggles so far this season. Possible reasons included feeling the pressure to perform under the weight of his big deal, still being concerned about his knee issue -- whether perceived or real -- and simply resting on his laurels now he has his money.

Of the three, we're loathe to believe that the 25-year-old doesn't care anymore. It just doesn't fit with what he's done to get to this point of his playing career; you don't achieve what he has so far, if you don't give a damn.

Along these lines, there was an incident towards the end of Canucks practice on Wednesday, which offers proof that Pettersson does still give a damn. Further, that the frustration of not producing to a satisfactory level, is possibly beginning to get to him.

FIGHT!!! .... sort of

As first reported on social media by Jeff Paterson of Rink Wide: Vancouver, the four-time NHL All-Star got into a heated and physical exchange with J.T. Miller. To be clear it was only brief, but still certainly noteworthy.

Paterson went on to describe how the teammates chopped at each other at the end of a battle drill, followed by a quick cross check from Miller. The two then exchanged words before going their separate ways, with no coaches or other teammates feeling compelled to intervene.

Canucks head coach Rick Tocchet was asked about the incident afterwards, but didn't believe it was a big deal. As per Mike Raptis of The Province, Tocchet said:

"There’s time and a place where you want to challenge the pace of the practice or there’s a certain drill someone doesn’t like, or whatever, that’s part of the game. It’s not a big deal. ... I’m sure if there was a scrum or something on Saturday night, Millsy would be the first guy to jump in for Petey."

Incident doesn't allude to unrest within the team

As you can imagine in the world of social media, there were plenty of theories about why the heated exchange happened in the first place. Among these, that it alluded to Miller representing how the majority of the team feels about Pettersson.

However, our take is that these types of comments are essentially representative of projecting on the part of the people who have their own a negative opinion of Pettersson. It's not as if this is a regular occurrence - heck, it's not even an irregular one.

If anything, as one of the leaders on the team, you can make the feasible case that Miller was just simply trying to light a fire under his teammate, to help him find a way out of the funk he's currently in, which extends all the way back to around the time of signing his deal. Consider that in his past 52 games -- regular season and playoffs combined -- Pettersson has just 34 total points.

Just a spontaneous reaction

The most likely explanation though, was that it really was just a heat of the moment situation. With the possible underlying theory that Pettersson really is just becoming increasingly frustrated with his own performances.

In any event, the 2017 fifth overall draft pick advised there is no issue with Miller, when asked about the incident. As per Raptis he said:

"Yeah, it’s good. I think you should practice with an edge. Yeah, it’s good."

Overall, Pettersson really does need to up his game, with him being an important part of the Canucks' quest to be a genuine contender for the Stanley Cup come playoff time. Who knows, maybe the scuffle with Miller is just what he needs, to motivate him to start playing somewhere closer to his talent level.

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