Trade Option 3: Elias Pettersson (Vancouver Canucks)
Okay, this one might be going out on a limb, but the Vancouver Canucks’ center Elias Pettersson might be a prime candidate for the Bruins to sneak in and swoop up before he becomes a restricted free agent following the season.
Pettersson has recently put his contract talks on hold with the Canucks, reportedly saying he “wants to focus on preparing for the season.” Hmmmm… I don’t know about you, but to me that sounds like someone who wants to explore other options.
Pettersson has a base salary of $10.25 million, but a cap-hit of $7.35 million, and he sits as one of the few stars on a Vancouver team that has struggled to bring in solid players since the departures of Roberto Luongo and retirements of Daniel and Henrik Sedin.
Pettersson remains a potent part of the Canucks offense, along with Quinn Hughes. Pettersson most likely won’t be moved, but if he is, it would be a huge pick up for Boston. Pettersson has scored 136 goals and dished out 187 assists (323 points) in 325 games (ALMOST ONE POINT PER GAME!!!).
He had his best season in 2022-23, where he played in 80 games, and scored 39 goals, and accrued with 63 assists (102 points) to go with it.
Pettersson is the ideal choice out of these three, but his cap hit, combined with what it would most likely take to get him from Vancouver makes the end very hard to justify the means.