The Canucks are in the midst of an injury crisis, on top of being thin at centre to begin with.

Elias Pettersson isn’t shooting enough, but he’s doing everything else very well.

So why isn’t head coach Adam Foote playing his No. 1 centre more?

It’s a baffling question, one that’s just sitting out there lingering.

Tuesday in Pittsburgh, Pettersson played plenty on the power play and a little on the penalty kill, but at five on five, bizarrely, he was the least-used centre on the team. Less than Nils Aman , freshly recalled from the AHL. Less than Max Sasson, who has well and truly been deployed as a fourth-line centre this season. Pettersson played a minute less at five on five than Aman and almost a minute less than Sasson.

He skated 5.5 minutes less than Aatu Raty, whose 52 career

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