PITTSBURGH — When news broke Monday that William Nylander had signed an eight-year, $92-million contract to remain with the Toronto Maple Leafs, a Vancouver Canucks official told Sportsnet the mammoth deal would not change the team’s position on Elias Pettersson.
The concern, of course, is that nothing has changed with Pettersson’s position.
As the surprising Canucks began the second half of the NHL season with Thursday’s 4-3 overtime win against the Pittsburgh Penguins, Pettersson still isn’t ready to open negotiations on an extension that would make him the highest-paid player in Vancouver history.
Unable to find traction on contract talks last summer, Pettersson told Sportsnet’s Elliotte Friedman in August that he was shelving discussions in order to fully focus on the Canucks’ season.
His agent, Pat Brisson, told us at the time: “The main focus will be for him to perform and hopefully him and the team will be in a better place this year. And to evaluate … both sides can evaluate (and) let’s all sit down at the end of the year and explore where we’re at.”
A gobsmacking 27-11-3 halfway through the season, the Canucks are in a profoundly better place in the standings than a year ago. And Pettersson is having another excellent year as one of the league’s best two-way centres, amassing 20 goals and 53 points through 41 games to follow up his breakthrough 102-point campaign last year, when the Swede finished seventh in Selke Trophy balloting.
Canucks general manager Patrik Allvin said Thursday he is in regular contact with Pettersson’s representatives.
“I have conversations but nothing obviously has changed,” Allvin told Sportsnet before the Penguins game. “We want to keep Petey here. He knows that. At some point, it’s going to come down to negotiations and if it’s working or not.
“We have another year with him as a RFA; we’re not going to lose him this summer (as a UFA). But that being said, I’m trying to plan for our team this year and next year, and I want him to be a big part of it.”
Asked directly if he believes Pettersson wants to stay with the Canucks, Allvin said: “I do believe that he wants to be a part of a good team. He wants to be part of a winning team, and I do know that he has a good relationship with Toc (coach Rick Tocchet) and he really appreciates the changes and the direction the team is going.”
Speaking Thursday evening, Brisson didn’t rule out contract negotiations restarting before the end of this season but said he needs to reconnect with Pettersson after this road trip to discuss options.
“I can’t say whether it will be in two weeks or two months, but (negotiations) could definitely still happen this season,” Brisson told Sportsnet. “It’s important to remember that Nylander was going to be a UFA, Petey is an RFA. It’s not the same situation.”
By not negotiating or even talking about his contract situation, Pettersson has been largely successful to this point in keeping the issue from becoming a sideshow that disrupts the team or distracts from its on-ice success.
But there is always something to fill a void, and a couple of weeks ago it was a podcast report that Pettersson wants to play for the Chicago Blackhawks (presumably because he hasn’t had enough losing in Vancouver and would love to do more of it in Chicago while playing in Connor Bedard’s shadow). A subplot to the report was that he was conspiring with countryman William Nylander to join the Blackhawks.
Apparently, no one sent the script to Nylander, but at least the story generated a lot of attention in two of the NHL’s most rabid, social-media-involved markets.
Nylander’s new contract averages $11.5 million, comes with a full no-movement clause over its eight years and is fairly buyout-proof due to heavy signing bonuses. That $11.5-mil AVV doesn’t set the price of Pettersson’s next contract; it will be a launching point.
Pettersson has outperformed Nylander in their careers (1.03 points per game for the Canuck, 0.87 PPG for the Leaf), plays centre instead of wing and, at 25, is two-and-a-half years younger. And, for what it’s worth, Pettersson had more playoff success in his solitary foray in the Stanley Cup tournament (two series wins during the 2020 bubble), than Nylander has had during seven post-season tries with Toronto (one series win).
In summary, Pettersson is a younger, better, more valuable player.
During the Canucks’ stop in New York over the weekend, Pettersson politely declined an invitation to speak about the Chicago rumour or offer clarity about his position in Vancouver.
He explained, accurately, that if he speaks about one rumour then he’ll be asked about every speculative report. Pettersson did express disappointment that these stories arise while the Canucks are playing their best hockey in many years, and reiterated that his focus remains on helping the team win.
Allvin agreed that this situation is “unusual” for a player of Pettersson’s stature heading toward restricted free agency.
Uncertainty over how much and for how long the Canucks will be paying Pettersson after this season complicates Allvin’s budgeting, and potentially affects negotiations for other impending free agents.
Canuck defenceman Filip Hronek is another RFA who has earned a massive increase on his current cap hit of $4.4 million.
Key veteran defencemen Tyler Myers and Ian Cole are among seven players on the Vancouver roster eligible for unrestricted free agency on July 1. Both have said they’d like to remain with the Canucks.
Others UFAs include important depth players such as forwards Dakota Joshua, Teddy Blueger and Sam Lafferty, and backup goalie Casey DeSmith.
Allvin and Canucks president Jim Rutherford have talked about the success the organization has had in developing players at the minor-league level, and from that pool of prospects, the team will try to fill any lineup gaps that may arise when players sign elsewhere.
Obviously, it would be helpful for the GM to know how much he has available to spend.
“We have kind of a pecking order,” Allvin said. “We’ve got to figure out how much money we have left, too. I anticipate there’s going to be some changes starting next year, but I also would anticipate some of those changes would be internal with some of the younger players coming in and taking a step.”
But they have nobody capable of replacing Pettersson. Few teams do.
