Elias Pettersson trade buzz between the Vancouver Canucks and Los Angeles Kings is back this week, and it comes with real history attached.
NHL insider David Pagnotta went on the Sekeres and Price Podcast and confirmed something worth noting. Los Angeles' interest in Pettersson wasn't invented. It was genuine.
"If the price drops and the opportunity is there... Ken Holland and company would pounce on that," Pagnotta said.
The interest was real, he added flatly. That's a narrower claim than an active deal, and Bob thinks that distinction matters more than the headline suggests.
Pettersson closed last season with 51 points in 74 games for Vancouver, just 15 goals and 36 assists to go with a minus-30 rating.
Those numbers are tough to square with an $11.6 million cap hit, one that runs all the way through the 2031-32 season.
He's only 27, though. Young enough that another front office can still talk itself into the player Vancouver saw flashes of not long ago.
The $9.825 million problem facing Los Angeles
Ken Holland's Kings would need to clear roughly $9.825 million in commitments just to absorb Pettersson's full hit without Vancouver retaining a dime.
That's a heavy lift for a team with a projected $1.775 million in cap room right now.
Adrian Kempe just put up 73 points and Quinton Byfield added 49, and Pagnotta says Los Angeles is willing to try Kempe at center with Byfield holding down another top job down the middle.
But if the Kings ever decide they need a true number one center, there aren't many players walking around with Pettersson's ceiling.
Is that upside worth the contract headache? Depends who you ask, and depends how next season goes.
Vancouver finished 25-49-8, dead last in the league standings, so nobody in that front office wants to sell low on their most talented forward.
Daniel and Henrik Sedin have reportedly gotten involved in the project to get Pettersson back toward point-per-game hockey, and that tells you where the Canucks' head is at.
Rick Dhaliwal had already cooled speculation earlier, saying a trade wasn't close and that Pettersson training in Los Angeles shouldn't be read as a signal.
Pagnotta's report doesn't actually contradict that. Both things can be true at once, and usually are in these situations.
Los Angeles looks like a credible landing spot if Vancouver ever decides the price is right.
Nobody's saying that day is close. But it's not off the table either, and that's the part worth watching heading into training camp.
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Should the Canucks trade Elias Pettersson to the Kings this season?
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