What does Pettersson want and can the Canucks give it to him?

The Vancouver Canucks are in first place and on pace for their second-best regular season in the 54-year history of the franchise.

Their stars have been brilliant, their depth players reliable, and with 22 games left, excitement is building in anticipation of Rogers Arena hosting its first Stanley Cup playoff game in nine long years.

But there is a dark cloud in the sky.

At least, it looks like a dark cloud from here.

It’s not a subject Canucks fans want to talk about, but it’s impossible to ignore.

When Elias Pettersson told Sportsnet’s Elliotte Friedman last summer that he wanted to wait before signing a contract extension with the Canucks, it was met with nervousness but also some understanding.

Pettersson is a fiercely competitive player, and he has spoken before about his desire to win. He was turning 25, in the prime of his career, and had played on a non-playoff team for four of his first five seasons.

Given how terrible Vancouver had been since 2020, it was reasonable to wait.

That’s one theory.

Another theory that fans and media floated was about an issue that’s important to every player: money. Pettersson’s going to make lots of it, but he could really cash in if he was willing to bet on himself.

And if that was the goal, then mission accomplished. With 74 points in 60 games, Pettersson is on pace for a second straight 100+ point season. His play has only served to ramp up the Canucks’ desperation in re-signing him.

But was that really the goal?

I’m not sure anyone outside of Pettersson and his closest confidants truly knows what the star centre wants. We haven’t heard much, if anything, about what Pettersson is thinking from NHL insiders this season.

What we have begun to learn from hockey’s most trustworthy reporters is that the Canucks are willing to negotiate, but Pettersson still wants to wait.

The question now becomes: what is he waiting for?

It seems that other teams around the league are wondering because the Canucks are reportedly receiving trade calls.

If the issue was winning, that appears to be fixed. The Canucks aren’t just a good team, they’re the best team in the league this season. Now, that doesn’t make them the Stanley Cup favourite, but they’re in the mix.

If the issue was money, it would seem hard to believe that Pettersson’s stock could go any higher. The Canucks, it seems, are already ready to make him one of the highest-paid players in the NHL.

So, is it something else? And if it is, is it something the Canucks can give him?

Because if they aren’t, we could be less than six months away from a trade out of town. While he’s only a restricted free agent this summer, Pettersson effectively has the power to force a move.

If Pettersson refuses to agree to anything longer than a one-year contract, the Canucks will need to trade him during the offseason or risk losing him for nothing as an unrestricted free agent in 2025.

Hopefully, for the sake of Canucks fans, it doesn’t come to that.

Maybe he merely wants to wait so that he can accurately assess his future with the most knowledge possible. Maybe he thinks that negotiating in-season would be a worse distraction than the uncertainty created by his refusal to talk contract.

It’s a road less travelled because it includes the risk of injury, but it’s not inconceivable.

And that right now is the hope fans, and perhaps Canucks management, are clinging to. Maybe Pettersson’s just wired differently. Maybe he just wants to compartmentalize the contract negotiation.

Maybe he wants to stay.