The Vancouver Canucks are making a clear push to get Elias Pettersson back on track, and that effort now looks like a central part of how they want to move forward. The team is still open to calls, but the sense is that Ryan Johnson and the Canucks see Pettersson as a core player and want to do whatever they can to bring out the version of him that once drove their offense.
Pettersson’s recent numbers explain why this matters. He put up 102 points in 2022-23, then followed that with 89 points the next season.
Since those strong campaigns, though, he has totaled just 30 goals and 96 points across the last two seasons. There have been plenty of explanations for the drop, including injuries and a feud with J.T.
Miller, but the bottom line is that a player with Pettersson’s talent should not be producing at middle-six levels.
Johnson’s approach was laid out in comments relayed by Kevin Woodley at NHL.com: “What I’m stressing with (Pettersson) is I want to give him an environment that supports him, that allows him to be himself and not feel that he’s got to be anything other than himself…I want to help him just in creating a space where I know he wakes up excited to come into the arena every day.”
If Vancouver can help Pettersson rediscover his game, it changes the look of the club’s rebuild over the next few seasons.
In Montreal, Sam Montembeault still appears to be on the move, but the goalie market may not open up the way the Canadiens would like. The team is moving ahead with Jakob Dobes and Jacob Fowler as its tandem, which has pushed Montembeault out of the picture. This has been on the radar since June, and after a relatively quiet summer, the possibility of a trade could be getting some traction again.
The complication is Connor Hellebuyck. If that situation triggers other goalie movement, it could create the kind of ripple effect that helps Montreal. Marco D’Amico put it this way on The Starr & D’Amico Show: “…if Hellebuyck gets traded that may start a carousel of other trades…” Teams such as the Winnipeg Jets could become part of that chain reaction, especially if they are suddenly forced into the market.
If Winnipeg were to move Hellebuyck, the club would be left with Stuart Skinner as its starter and one of its depth goaltenders as the backup, which could make Montembeault a fit. Beyond that, though, the options are limited. Most teams already have their goaltending tandems set, and the market outside of a Hellebuyck deal is described as pretty cold.
Montembeault could still appeal to teams worried about injuries during the season, but he reportedly is not interested in going through another three-goalie setup. There is also the possibility that he ends up on waivers when training camp wraps up. Montreal would likely be fine keeping him around as a call-up option with the Laval Rocket, but that may not be a landing spot he welcomes.
In Ottawa, the Senators are getting closer to choosing a captain after Brady Tkachuk’s departure left them without one for the first time since 2021. The roster offers several natural candidates, with Thomas Chabot, Claude Giroux, Tim Stutzle and Jake Sanderson all in the mix.
Bruce Garrioch reported that “[Steve Staios and] Travis Green are closing in on a decision on who will replace departed captain Brady Tkachuk and that the choice could be made in the near future.” Garrioch has made the case for Chabot, pointing to his loyalty after staying with the team through a difficult decade.
Chabot and Sanderson have both been long-running leaders in the room, while Stutzle recently addressed Tkachuk’s exit at the NHL’s European Media Tour. He said, “We’re focused on what we have ahead of us and the team we have right now. So, wish him all the best,”
However Ottawa goes, the Senators have no shortage of players who could wear the letter.
In Other News...
Canadiens May Already Be Looking At A Huge Lane Hutson Price
Cale Makar just reset the market in a way the NHL had never seen before, becoming the first player to land a contract with an annual average value north of $20 million. For Montreal, that kind of number is worth keeping an eye on because Lane Hutson is already locked in on an eight-year deal at $8.85 million AAV, a contract that looks substantial now but could age very differently if his trajectory keeps pointing upward.
The biggest difference, of course, is where each player was in his career when the deal came together. Makar had already established himself as one of the leagues elite defensemen, while Hutson is still in the stage where his ceiling is being defined. If the Canadiens young star continues to develop and the salary cap keeps climbing, the next conversation around his value could be a lot bigger than the one Montreal just finished having. [Read more 🡒]
Canadiens Fans Should Watch One Thing In The Dylan Larkin Buzz
The Dylan Larkin chatter has a way of following the Canadiens around whenever analysts start sketching out big-picture trade fits, and Montreal is an easy place for that kind of speculation to land. The appeal is obvious enough from the outside: a player of Larkins caliber would instantly reshape the conversation in Montreal, while the Canadiens could present the kind of long-term destination some insiders believe would make sense if a deal ever became realistic.
But the real thing to watch is less about the rumor itself and more about who actually controls it. Larkin has a no-trade clause, which gives him the final say on any move, and the reporting around him has suggested he is looking for a Stanley Cup contender. Until that part of the equation changes, the buzz remains exactly that, with no confirmed trade and no official word to push the story beyond speculation. [Read more 🡒]
Canucks Still Have Room To Make A Move Fans Want To See
The Vancouver Canucks are still sitting on nearly $18 million in salary cap space, which keeps them in the middle of the summer conversation even after the big-ticket action around the league has slowed down. With that kind of flexibility, they have room to chase the kind of name fans would recognize, and the list of possibilities has already included Patrik Laine, Eeli Tolvanen and Vladimir Tarasenko.
For Montreal, the ripple effect is part of the intrigue, because any move the Canucks make could shape the market around players the Canadiens are monitoring too. There has also been some speculation about Dylan Larkin as a possible fit in Montreal, though nothing concrete has materialized and the cap math only adds another layer to the uncertainty. For now, the talking points are louder than the transactions, and the real question is whether Vancouver decides to use that space before the opportunity slips away. [Read more 🡒]