There was a moment on Sunday night in the Vancouver Canucks’ loss to the Vegas Golden Knights in which the Sportsnet broadcasters expressed appreciation for something quite simple.
The Canucks were on the power play, and Elias Pettersson received the puck in space near the left faceoff dot. He fired a shot almost immediately.
Pettersson didn’t score, but just the simple fact that he chose to be aggressive and shoot was notable.
As he went into a rut the last couple of seasons, Pettersson stopped shooting. He started overthinking plays on the ice. He failed to be the dynamic player that earned himself an eight-year contract worth $11.6 million per year.
This season’s Canucks may still not be good enough to keep Pettersson around long term even if his play improves. He still might be a trade candidate.
But if he plays the way he has played so far this season, Pettersson could actually fetch the Canucks something notable in a trade.
Elias Pettersson Trade Update
Sportsnet’s Michael Amato wrote on Sunday that the “Canucks may be able to trade Pettersson if he continues to impress.”
It’s a reasonable assessment of the start to the season for Vancouver.
“It was never going to be easy to move Pettersson’s contract, though it was virtually impossible once his play started to dip,” Amato writes. “Now his $11.6-million cap hit doesn’t look so bad after the financial explosion we saw across the league this summer. Pettersson doesn’t even necessarily have to get back to that 100-point level to be moved, as there is a huge shortage of supply and a massive demand when it comes to centres. If Pettersson can get into that 60-70 point range and be strong defensively, he could have a market again around the league.”
Even with the strong play, as Amato notes, the return for Pettersson might not be massive. The key is that a team would actually be willing to take on his contract if the acquiring side knows it’s getting a productive player.
The Canucks being mired in a rebuild might actually help their cause here too, Amato writes.
“One thing the Canucks have going for them if they want to move Pettersson is that they would be one of the few teams willing to take draft picks and prospects back in a trade because of their rebuild,” Amato writes. “We’ve heard this already with the Columbus Blue Jackets and Kirill Marchenko, as well as the Winnipeg Jets and Connor Hellebuyck. Both teams wanted impact players in return who could help their teams right away. Most contending squads wouldn’t be willing to give up a key contributor off their roster, so the fact that Vancouver would likely be open to future assets in a Pettersson return helps its cause as a trade partner. ”
Pettersson is already showing his scoring touch this season in a way that he hasn’t in the past two years.
Even if the Canucks can’t pull off a trade, it has to be good for everyone in Vancouver to see.
Elias Pettersson Contract
Pettersson is in year three of his eight-year deal worth $11.6 million per year.
No matter what happens here, someone is ending up with a big contract that has at least some risk.
“Pettersson’s AAV could still be an issue with several years left to go on the deal, but if the Canucks could eat a bit of the money or take a bad contract back in return, it should make facilitating a trade easier,” Amato writes. “Vancouver has nearly $16 million of cap space to work with, so it’s certainly doable. With all that said, it’s still going to take Pettersson maintaining his strong play for a substantial amount of time before other teams start showing any serious interest. There’s a long way to go, but maybe there’s a team out there that’s willing to make the Canucks a decent offer for Pettersson by the deadline. It certainly doesn’t seem as impossible as it once did.”
The Canucks likely need Pettersson to put together a good month or two before anything transpires. But at least he’s off to a good start.
Elias Pettersson’s Trade Status for Canucks Updates With Fast Start