Elias Pettersson doesn’t look like he’s having much fun these days with the Vancouver Canucks.
Then again, who is?
The Canucks are amidst one of the worst stretches in franchise history. Ever since their four-game winning streak following the Quinn Hughes trade, they’ve gone 3-16-4. One of those wins came courtesy of the shootout.
Surely some veterans in the Canucks locker room are hungry for a fresh start.
Pettersson sure sounded like one of those guys on Monday.
And, with the NHL trade deadline fast approaching, teams are reportedly still calling the Canucks about Pettersson.
Pierre LeBrun reported on TSN’s Insider Trading that both the Carolina Hurricanes and the Los Angeles Kings have been checking in on the embattled centre.
Carolina has been linked to Pettersson for years, dating back to 2024 before the Canucks inked the Swedish forward to the richest contract in team history.
Los Angeles also seems like a logical destination if Pettersson were to move. They don’t seem to have any interest in rebuilding, and they want to make the playoffs in Anze Kopitar’s last year. The Kings also need a top-six centre to replace Kopitar after he retires, with no obvious candidate in-house to fill that role.
CHEK’s Rick Dhaliwal also mentioned on Monday that the Detroit Red Wings have been calling on Pettersson, backing up the report from Bruce Garrioch of the Ottawa Citizen over the weekend.
Despite some rumoured interest, a deal doesn’t seem imminent.
“I think it’s more likely than not that Pettersson stays put here at this deadline,” LeBrun said.
Dhaliwal also added during Monday’s episode of Donnie and Dhali that the Red Wings and Canucks will likely revisit a potential Pettersson trade after the season has commenced.
If the Canucks truly do want to trade Pettersson, and if the 27-year-old wants a fresh start, both the team and player better hope he starts playing better.
This has not been a banner season for anyone on the Canucks roster. However, based on the massive underperformance relative to his contract, Pettersson should shoulder a fair share of the blame.
He’s on pace for just 19 goals and 50 points this season, just one year after he posted a dismal 45 points.
On a per-game basis, Pettersson has actually regressed from last season. In 2024-25, Pettersson registered 0.70 points per game. So far this season, the 6-foot-2 centre has posted 0.67 points per contest.
Here’s one more overly sobering Pettersson stat. With the Sundsvall, Sweden native in the lineup this season, the Canucks are 12-32-7. Without him, they’re 5-3-0.