Elias Pettersson trade chatter has been buzzing around Vancouver all offseason, but the latest word out of Rick Dhaliwal suggests the Canucks never came close to actually pulling the trigger.
Speaking on Canucks Conversation, Dhaliwal said the talks never reached the point where Vancouver even asked Pettersson’s camp to consider waiving his no-trade protection for a specific destination.
"As far as I know, when I checked in… an Elias Pettersson trade never got close in the last few months,” Dhaliwal said. "The Canucks never went to his agent and said, ‘Hey, we got a team, will you waive?"
That matters because Pettersson’s contract gives him significant control. He is signed to an eight-year, $92.8 million deal and carries a full no-movement clause with the Canucks.
So if the team was ever serious about moving him, the first real hurdle would have been getting him to approve the destination. Dhaliwal’s reporting suggests it never got that far.
Pettersson’s name has been floating around trade discussion for months as Vancouver works through its rebuild and the uncertainty around his future keeps growing. He’s the highest-paid player on the roster, but the conversation around him has shifted because his production has not matched the standard he set earlier in his career.
Before signing that lucrative deal in 2024, Pettersson put up a career-high 107 points. Since then, the drop-off has fueled plenty of speculation about whether the Canucks might eventually move him.
Dhaliwal also pointed to the Pittsburgh Penguins as a team with some level of interest, though he said they do not appear willing to meet the kind of asking price Vancouver would want.
“I do believe Pittsburgh has some degree of interest in Elias Pettersson. I am not hearing the rumour that the Canucks have asked for Ben Kindel; no way the Penguins are gonna give up such a promising young player… for a bad contract,” Dhaliwal said.
Pettersson finished this past season with 51 points, scoring 15 goals and adding 36 assists, while the Canucks ended the year 32nd in the league.
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