Mandatory Credit: Bob Frid-Imagn Images

As we get closer to the NHL trade deadline Vancouver Canucks are expecting to be major players in how things shake out across the league. Despite the Vancuks being toward the bottom of the playoff standings, this team has a few players on the roster who could be moved around.

Vancouver had a lot of optimism entering the season after a strong offseason, but the rails have quickly fallen off for this team. Now, the Canucks are expected to undergo a massive fire sale as the organization looks to rebuild for the future.

This won’t be easy for the Canucks, but any moves made in the upcoming trade deadline should help put everything into perspective for this franchise. The NHL roster freeze is currently underway, but things will open back up in a few weeks, and the the Canucks should be firmly open for business.

As the Canucks look for ways to get out of the mess that they find themselves in, the idea of the team trading away former fifth-overall draft pick Elias Pettersson has come about. Pettersson has been a staple of this team for the last few seasons, but his inconsistency on the ice of late could lead to a move taking place.

Multiple teams have already shown interest in landing Pettersson from the Canucks ahead of the trade deadline, but whether they move him or not remains unknown. Vancouver does want to retool the roster, but Pettersson is still only 27 years old, so it would likely take a large return for the team to part with him.

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Elias Pettersson Traded to the Chicago Blackhawks?

If the Canucks do end up trading Pettersson, the Chicago Blackhawks could be one of the stronger landing spots for him. Chicago is heading toward the end of their long rebuild, and adding a potent scoring piece to the mix could boost the overall performance of this club.

Trading for Pettersson would be a big risk for Chicago, especially because he still has six years left on his current contract, being scheduled to make $11.6 million per season. Pettersson has also been a little inconsistent in his game and hasn’t lived up to the hype that surrounded him when he first signed the big contract with the Canucks.

From the 2021-22 season through 2023-24, Pettersson was one of the better players in the entire league, and he scored at least 32 goals each year. But last year, something switched for him, and he only scored 15 goals in 64 games, which started all the original trade rumors.

Part of the struggles that Pettersson saw last year is that Vancouver did a poor job of giving him help on the ice. This year, Pettersson has scored 13 goals in 48 games, so there are signs that he is coming back to life.

The overall potential of Pettersson is undeniable, and he is exactly the type of player that this young team could use moving forward. Chicago could slot him on the wing next to Connor Bedard or Frank Nazer, giving them a unique combination of skill and speed on the ice for opponents to deal with.

The price tag for Pettersson could be tough to swallow for Chicago, especially if they aren’t getting the 30-goal scorer, but this is a move that they may need to make. Pairing him with Bedard could elevate this Blackhawks team to new heights and potentially even real Stanley Cup contention.

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