Utah Hockey Club Reportedly Called Vancouver Canucks Regarding Elias Pettersson
Utah Hockey Club is looking for a boost as they sit four points out of a playoff spot and have reportedly called the Vancouver Canucks regarding Elias Pettersson.
The Vancouver Canucks' season hasn't gone as anyone could've predicted and expectations were sky high after winning the Pacific Division title last season.
In a season that the Canucks could've cemented themselves as true Stanley Cup contenders, the team has played very inconsistent and among those that have been disappointing is Elias Pettersson, who has just 19 goals dating back to the beginning of February 2024.
With Elias Pettersson in the first year of an eight-year deal that pays him $11.6 million USD annually, it's not a good look for the franchise when they commit that much money to him and he's not even a point-per-game player this season.
Earlier this month, Sportsnet's Elliotte Friedman reported that the Vancouver Canucks were testing the market for both Elias Pettersson and J.T. Miller.
Since then, there's been more noise about J.T. Miller than Elias Pettersson, with the Swedish forward reportedly telling the team's management that he would like to remain a Vancouver Canuck and not be traded ahead of the deadline in March.
If the Vancouver Canucks were to try and move Elias Pettersson, it would be pretty tough given his contract situation, but that hasn't stopped one team in the Western Conference to at least call up Patrik Allvin to inquire about the 26-year-old.
Utah Hockey Club reportedly made calls on Elias Pettersson
On Thursday's edition of the DFO Rundown podcast, NHL insider Frank Seravalli revealed that the Utah Hockey Club has made calls to the Vancouver Canucks about Elias Pettersson.
His co-host, Jason Gregor, followed up by saying, "Oh god yeah. I can see them doing that. That's huge. They have tons of prospects and assets and even some good professional players, current NHLers that if they wanted to make a 3-for-1 type of trade, they definitely could do it. That would be fantastic. We're talking big swing."
Utah has a ton of prospect and draft capital that they could use to pull off in a deal for Elias Pettersson and despite him not playing well this season, the asking price for him won't be cheap.
Some players that the Vancouver could take a look at from Utah are Daniil But, Victor Soderstrom or even 2024 first-rounder Cole Beaudoin, who plays with fellow Canucks prospects Riley Patterson and Anthony Romani with the Ontario Hockey League's Barrie Colts.
With 42 days to go until the National Hockey League's trade deadline, it's going to be interesting to see if the Vancouver Canucks end up making a big move involving one of Elias Pettersson or J.T. Miller, with it being more likely the latter will be on his way out of town by March 7th.
