Elias Pettersson is getting a different approach from Vancouver Canucks GM Ryan Johnson this season, and it's a deliberate choice.
Tough love clearly didn't work over the last couple of years. Pettersson posted just 51 points in 74 games last season, going minus-30 for a team that finished dead last overall.
Johnson's more supportive approach isn't about coddling a struggling star. It's about recognizing that not every player responds to pressure the same way.
Some players carry big egos. Others are quiet and reserved. Finding the right button to push matters more than sticking to one method for everyone.
That's where the Henrik Sedin comparison comes in. Sedin went through his own stretches early in his career where expectations weren't being met.
Sedin's answer back then was internal. It's up to me, and it's up to my brother, to get through this and become the players we need to be. That's the message Vancouver wants Pettersson to internalize now.
Vancouver finished 25-49-8 last season, 32nd overall, and every voice in that room matters heading into a full rebuild.
Why positivity actually makes hockey sense right now
Players need to walk into the rink excited, even during a difficult season. There has to be a light at the end of the tunnel, some real camaraderie, some actual joy in showing up every day.
Getting beat down by results and media pressure while losing every night creates a cycle that's brutally hard to escape once it starts.
Positivity isn't a soft approach here. It's a practical one, especially for a young team that's going to struggle regardless of tone.
Pettersson still carries an $11,600,000 cap hit, the richest deal on Vancouver's books, and that number alone means his bounce-back matters to the entire rebuild's timeline.
Johnson isn't just trying to fix one player's production. He's trying to build the kind of environment where a talented, struggling core can actually find its way back.
Whether Pettersson responds the way Henrik Sedin once did is the real question hanging over this entire season in Vancouver.
Will a more supportive approach from Ryan Johnson help Elias Pettersson bounce back?
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