The Vancouver Canucks finished off a disappointing 5-1 loss to the Seattle Kraken without their highest-paid player on the ice.
Centreman Elias Pettersson did not take the ice in the final minutes of Saturday’s game against their divisional rival — including during a 6-on-5 push — due to a coach’s decision.
“He’s got to be better and he knows that, he’s aware of that,” head coach Adam Foote told reporters in Seattle after the game. “We need more from him and he’s got to find it. … He knows he’s got to be better for us and I’m sure we’ll see that next game.”
Pettersson, 27, saw just 14:20 of ice time — nearly his lowest of the season, second only to a Jan. 23 game against the New Jersey Devils, where Foote admitted at the time that Pettersson was fighting off an illness.
In that time, the Sundsvall, Sweden native went minus-two with no shots and one hit, and was taken off both power plays late in the final frame.
“Coach is coaching to win, whatever he decides I respect it,” Pettersson said of the decision, per The Athletic‘s Thomas Drance. “I’ve got to be better… My number wasn’t called.”
For the season, Pettersson has 13 goals and 35 points in 51 games. He is in the second season of an eight-year contract that carries a $11.6-million cap hit.
