The report showed that the Canucks forced Pettersson to make a choice on where he wanted to play as the team was preparing to move him to the Hurricanes if a deal couldn't be reached. According to Friedman, the Canucks got far enough into discussion with the Hurricanes that they had to ask Pettersson directly if he had intentions on signing, or else the team would continue with the trade.
It seems that after Pettersson was presented with the fact that he could be dealt to Carolina, he was encouraged to resume contract negotiations with the Canucks. If that's accurate, it could turn out to be a brilliant negotiation tactic from the Canucks. Now according to insiders, Pettersson is in discussions to sign for 6 years, north of $12M.