Teams keep looking at Elias Pettersson, but Rick Dhaliwal says nobody wants to pay the Canucks center's full cap hit unless Vancouver retains salary.
Dhaliwal said on Oilers Now that teams have looked at Pettersson at the last two deadlines and drafts, mainly because so many are weak down the middle.
“They're thinking, hey, can we get this guy at least 80 to 85 points? If we can, we can live with it,” he said.
He added that teams are OK paying $8.5 million to $9.5 million, but the Canucks would have to retain.
Vancouver should hold firm for now. Eating money on a 27-year-old center just to move him is how a rough October turns into a lost decade.
It's like listing a house above market and waiting for a buyer to blink. Eventually somebody does, or you cut the price.
Getting him to $9.5 million would require Vancouver to retain $2,100,000.
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Canucks face costly salary decision amid Elias Pettersson trade interest
Getting all the way down to $8.5 million would mean holding back $3,100,000.
Pettersson has 10 points in 10 games, a pace that fits right inside the range Dhaliwal described.
All three of his goals have come on the power play.
His $11,600,000 cap hit ranks 15th in the league.
Vancouver fell 4-2 in Tampa Bay on Saturday for its seventh straight loss, and the pressure keeps building.
The Canucks have allowed 45 goals in 10 games.
They already traded Aatu Räty to Toronto this week and have been linked to Calgary's Connor Zary.
Brock Boeser has 7 points but sits at -5.
Manny Malhotra's group needs answers fast, and moving its top center would raise more questions than it solves.
Is any team desperate enough to take on the full cap hit without asking for help?
Vancouver hosts Carolina on Tuesday and Detroit on Thursday to open a homestand.
Teams are looking. The real question is how much of that money Vancouver is willing to keep paying to watch him play somewhere else.
Should the Canucks retain salary to trade Elias Pettersson?
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