The Vancouver Canucks locked up superstar Elias Pettersson to an eight-year, 92.8 million contract over the weekend. Frank Seravalli and Tyler Yaremchuk talk about the big contract and how it will benefit both sides moving into the future.
Tyler Yaremchuk: Let’s start with the big news from the weekend, Elias Pettersson locks in his extension with the Canucks. Frank, you were the first to report that the two sides began talking again and made significant progress and they closed the deal it’s an 11.6 million AAV, which is 100k more than Willy Nylander putting him in the top-5 for cap hits next season. Were you surprised by this number at all?
Frank Seravalli: A little surprised in the sense they were able to keep it under 12 million bucks a year but it’s one of those deals that works for both sides. I can’t think of a more fair deal for a top-level player, I guess you can make the argument that McDavid has lived up to every aspect of his $100 million contract but when I think about Pettersson and how long this took to get done, which basically took two years from start to finish and then to finally execute and get the full 8-year deal it works for Vancouver and it definitely works for Pettersson walking away with 92.8 million.
Frank Seravalli: I think there’s a really strong bet that as the salary cap continues to increase in three years we are probably going to be talking about a 100 million salary cap, there’s a really strong chance that Pettersson at $11.6 will be really good value. He’s on track for back-to-back 100-point seasons and I think he’s one of the premier players of the league, the fact he is a centre you’re willing to pay a premium over the Nylander deal and to think he will be hovering in the top-5 of the league for scoring over the next 8 years it’s a safe bet.
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