Is It Time to Push the Panic Button on Elias Pettersson?

Bob Frid-USA TODAY Sports When the Vancouver Canucks drafted Elias Pettersson with the fifth overall selection in the 2017 NHL Entry Draft, they completely altered the trajectory of the franchise and sped up their rebuilding process. Pettersson has enjoyed one of the most successful debuts to a career of any Canuck ever and looks primed to be a leader of this team for years to come.

The value of his new contract puts Pettersson alongside other elite centres such as Mathew Barzal and Brayden Point. After being bombarded with a constant stream of updates on the contract talks, everyone was excited for Pettersson to hit the ice and get back to helping the Canucks win. However, the first five…