As Ryan Johnson starts reshaping the Canucks’ roster, Elias Pettersson’s name has naturally been dragged into the conversation. But Johnson made one thing clear to Sportsnet’s Iain MacIntyre: if Vancouver ever moves Pettersson, it won’t be a salary dump. The Canucks are looking for real value back.
That matters because Pettersson’s contract has become part of the debate around his future. He’s two years into an eight-year, $92.8MM deal with an $11.6MM AAV, and the production hasn’t matched the price tag so far.
In 138 games on that contract, he has 96 points. Before it kicked in, he had 191 points in 162 games over the previous two seasons.
That gap is why some wondered whether Vancouver might settle for less just to get out from under most of the deal. Johnson shut that idea down, saying there are no payroll restrictions on his group as the team moves into what appears to be a long rebuild.
The Canucks are also poking around on another front. CHEK’s Rick Dhaliwal said on a recent Oilers Now podcast that Vancouver has checked in on Kraken center Shane Wright.
Seattle is believed to be trying to make a deal work, but the asking price has been steep. Dhaliwal reported that the Kraken wanted either Zeev Buium or Tom Willander in return, and Vancouver isn’t prepared to pay that cost.
That kind of ask fits the situation from Seattle’s side, since Wright is still five years away from UFA eligibility and carries the kind of club control teams usually demand a premium for.
In Edmonton, the Oilers have one restricted free agent left to sort out: winger Colton Dach. His agent, Gerry Johansson, told Jim Matheson of the Edmonton Journal that the club has said it needs a little more time.
Edmonton has just under $6MM in cap space, according to PuckPedia, and appears to be focused first on landing an external addition before deciding what Dach’s next contract should look like. The 23-year-old finished last season with 13 points and 219 hits in 61 games split between Chicago and Edmonton.