No Traction On Elias Pettersson Trade

Given the number of teams looking for a second-line center, Elias Pettersson of the Vancouver Canucks was again an obvious trade candidate this offseason. However, given his no-movement clause and bloated salary, a trade was always going to be difficult to make. At this point, the Canucks have been unable to get over those hurdles.

Recently, some reports have indicated that the Los Angeles Kings were close to acquiring Pettersson, given that he was seen practicing in Los Angeles the other day. However, speaking on CanucksArmy, Rick Dhaliwal of The Athletic reported that Pettersson summers in Los Angeles because his wife is from there, and even if there had been trade conversations with the Kings, nothing has come close to fruition. Additionally, Dhaliwal mentioned that he wouldn’t be surprised if Pettersson again spent the entire 2026-27 season with Vancouver, given the lack of trade interest in his services.

Any trade interest in Pettersson would hinge on whether a rebound is possible. Still, as each season passes by, it’s becoming clearer that Pettersson may never return to the center he used to be. In the 2022-23 and 2023-24 seasons, Pettersson scored 73 goals and 191 points in 162 games with a +36 rating, averaging 20:06 of ice time per game. On the heels of that performance, the Canucks signed Pettersson to an eight-year, $92.8MM ($11.6MM AAV) contract toward the end of the 2023-24 season, believing that would be his baseline moving forward.

In hindsight, that hasn’t turned out to be the case. Since signing his new contract, Pettersson has registered 30 goals and 96 points in 138 games with a -40 rating. At this point, he’s finding more similarity in Jonathan Huberdeau‘s trajectory than that of a bona fide first-line forward.

Obviously, the Canucks have not put a strong team around Pettersson, especially in the last two seasons. Still, there are examples of other centers who haven’t been on particularly good teams, still finding a way to produce at a point-per-game level, at the very least.

The other wrinkle in trade negotiations regarding Pettersson is the new front office in Vancouver. A month ago, the new General Manager of the Canucks, Ryan Johnson, indicated that the team wasn’t willing to trade Pettersson just for the sake of dumping salary. Due to how the situation has unfolded this summer, few teams are willing to part with significant value for an expensive uncertainty.

The situation is expected to unfold as it has over the past several years. Pettersson will be connected to various teams throughout the season, with varying proposals being submitted to the Canucks, only for Vancouver to hang onto him past the deadline after determining that the offers aren’t sufficient.