The Vancouver Canucks continue to explore their options with Elias Pettersson. Frankly, they don’t have many cards on the table, and the final say belongs to the Swedish center. Still, reports around the NHL indicate the Canucks are testing the waters around Pettersson. However, trade talks will be headed for a cul-de-sac if the organization doesn’t eat up a large chunk of the forward’s salary.
“I know for a fact, one team told me to get in the Elias Pettersson trade talks, they need retention, 2, 2.5, close to 3 [million] per year to make it work,” Rick Dhaliwal reported on Canucks Conversation.
Vancouver was no stranger to that fact. The Canucks are well aware that no team will make a trade for Pettersson and take on his entire contract. And as painful as it may be for the team’s new front office to admit, Vancouver is in no position to compete in the NHL this season and likely won’t be for some time. Retaining a percentage of Pettersson’s salary may not be the worst thing in the world. And even then, it may not be enough.
Pettersson’s contract
Entering the third season of his eight-year, $92.8 million contract with the Canucks, Pettersson carries an $11.6 million cap hit in the NHL. Obviously, it’s the biggest contract on the Canucks’ payroll. Moreover, Pettersson is set to take home a total salary of $11 million this season with no signing bonus.
Elias Pettersson #40 of the Vancouver Canucks.
The 2026-27 campaign is the only season in which Pettersson won’t earn a signing bonus and will receive his entire compensation in salary form. For reference, last season he earned $4.5 million in base salary and $10 million as part of a signing bonus. In 2027-28, Pettersson’s base salary will be $9.45 million, with a $5 million signing bonus.
The fact that there is no lump-sum payment—which would have already been covered on July 1—is another reason why the Canucks retaining a portion of Pettersson’s salary is pivotal and likely a deal-breaker. No team would consider it sound business to acquire a player with as many question marks as Pettersson while committing to footing the entire bill for his $11 million salary and taking on the $11.6 million cap hit.
The Canucks, on the other hand, have roughly $17.8 million available in cap space, according to PuckPedia, so retaining millions from Pettersson’s deal wouldn’t affect them much. At least not in the short term. Still, it may all be in vain if Pettersson has no desire to leave Vancity. And it seems that’s the case.
Pettersson decides his future
Signed to a full no-movement clause (NMC), Pettersson has the final say on whether he is traded or not. There’s nothing the Canucks can do about that. At least not now. They had their chance and let it go down the drain.
During the 2024-25 NHL season and before the start of the 2025-26 campaign, Pettersson’s contract, then set to enter its second year, included no trade protection, meaning Vancouver could have traded him without any restrictions. Pettersson’s big contract was already raising eyebrows around the organization, and there’s reason to believe the Nucks would have had to retain part of his salary as well.
Regardless, that was the last shot they had at complete freedom when it came to shopping Pettersson. The Canucks were guided by a different front office, with another head coach and a slimmer hope that they could avoid a total rebuild. All of that is different now. Ryan Johnson, Henrik and Daniel Sedin must now lie in a bed they didn’t make.
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