{"id":465897,"date":"2026-02-21T17:39:50","date_gmt":"2026-02-21T17:39:50","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nhl\/465897\/"},"modified":"2026-02-21T17:39:50","modified_gmt":"2026-02-21T17:39:50","slug":"kings-might-stay-on-west-coast-looking-for-help-following-injury","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nhl\/465897\/","title":{"rendered":"Kings Might Stay on West Coast Looking for Help Following Injury"},"content":{"rendered":"

Welcome to another edition of NHL rumours, here at Last Word On Hockey. In this edition, the latest on the Los Angeles Kings and their interest in another centre will be the focus. Speculation surrounding the Kings has picked up significantly since the loss of Team Switzerland forward<\/a> Kevin Fiala<\/a> at the Olympics.<\/p>\n

Therefore, the Kings could be major players at this year\u2019s NHL trade deadline. Their search for more help could lead to some interesting talk ahead of March 6th.<\/p>\n

NHL Rumours: Kings Could Be Looking to Land Elias Pettersson<\/a> from Vancouver Canucks<\/p>\n

Rumour: The Kings were looking to add another centre even before the loss of Fiala. With Anze Kopitar<\/a> retiring at the end of the season and without much behind Quinton Byfield<\/a>, the Kings have been looking for another pivot. One potential target is Vancouver Canucks centre<\/a> Elias Pettersson.<\/p>\n

Analysis: The idea of Pettersson heading to the Kings is the latest NHL rumour surrounding the Canucks\u2019 rebuild. Ben Kuzma of The Province dropped the idea, linking Pettersson to the Kings<\/a>.<\/p>\n

The idea is hardly a bad one. The Kings need a centre, and the Canucks would be more than willing to shed Pettersson\u2019s salary cap hit. Plus, the loss of Fiala gives Los Angeles further motivation to find a centre who could play behind Byfield.<\/p>\n

According to Kuzma, Pettersson\u2019s two-goal performance in the game against Latvia at the 2026 Milano Cortina Winter Olympics helped convince the Kings he could be a solution. That said, there are various issues standing in the way. The most noticeable one is Pettersson\u2019s no-trade clause. Most NHL Rumours hint at this condition being the biggest stumbling block in any Pettersson deal.<\/p>\n

However, Kuzma pointed out that Pettersson could be open to a change of scenery. That\u2019s why the Canucks forward could be amenable to a trade.<\/p>\n

Asking Price Could Derail Pettersson Trade<\/p>\n

The other major issue could be the Canucks\u2019 asking price for Pettersson. Most NHL rumors suggest that the Canucks want a boatload for Pettersson, $11.6 million cap hit notwithstanding.<\/p>\n

The asking price purportedly includes a first-round pick and a young NHL-ready centre. That\u2019s what Vancouver got in the Quinn Hughes trade<\/a>. And that\u2019s what the club wants for Pettersson, according to most NHL rumours.<\/p>\n

The Kings don\u2019t really have a young centre to send back to Vancouver. There\u2019s no way the Kings would be parting with Byfield. So, it might take a combination of picks and prospects to get the deal across the finish line.<\/p>\n

But that may not be enough. The Canucks are rebuilding. They want young pieces who can step in now. As a result, NHL rumours may continue to grind but might not really lead anywhere.<\/p>\n

The outcome could depend on the Kings either paying up or the Canucks dropping their asking price. The latter does not seem likely. So, a Pettersson trade could come down to the Kings sucking it up and sending back the pieces the Canucks want.<\/p>\n

Otherwise, it seems like Vancouver is content with keeping Pettersson for now. The chatter does not suggest that Pettersson or the Canucks are actively looking to part ways.<\/p>\n

Main Photo: Bob Frid-Imagn Images<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Welcome to another edition of NHL rumours, here at Last Word On Hockey. In this edition, the latest…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":428984,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":"","_share_on_mastodon":"0"},"categories":[5126],"tags":[2318,5,186,1760,240,5303,793,145,5304,5302,4,19188],"class_list":{"0":"post-465897","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-los-angeles-kings","8":"tag-elias-pettersson","9":"tag-hockey","10":"tag-kings","11":"tag-la","12":"tag-la-kings","13":"tag-lakings","14":"tag-los-angeles","15":"tag-los-angeles-kings","16":"tag-losangeles","17":"tag-losangeleskings","18":"tag-nhl","19":"tag-vancouver-canucks-rumours"},"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/channels.im\/@nhl\/116109849250899501","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nhl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/465897","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nhl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nhl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nhl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nhl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=465897"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nhl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/465897\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nhl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/428984"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nhl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=465897"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nhl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=465897"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nhl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=465897"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}