Free Agent Frenzy on July 1 continues to draw closer and TSN.ca keeps you up to date with all the latest news and rumours as the NHL off-season heats up.<\/p>\n
Pettersson trade watch on again?<\/p>\n
Ben Kuzma of the Vancouver Province<\/a> believes the Detroit Red Wings<\/a> and Los Angeles Kings<\/a> could be potential suitors for struggling Vancouver Canucks<\/a> centre Elias Pettersson<\/a>. <\/p>\n Kuzma writes that the Kings have a hole to fill down the middle of their lineup following the retirement of Anze Kopitar<\/a>, while the Red Wings will likely enter the centre market if captain Dylan Larkin<\/a>\u2019s trade request is honoured by the club. <\/p>\n Kuzma believes the Canucks may have to retain salary to move Pettersson but points 2023 first-round pick Nate Danielson or restricted free agent Marco Kasper<\/a> as potentially worthy returns from the Red Wings. He is less sure of clear targets from the Kings in a Pettersson trade.<\/p>\n Pettersson, 27, had 15 goals and 51 points in 74 games with the Canucks this past as his production continued to decline for the second straight year.<\/p>\n The 6-foot-2 centre is entering the third season of an eight-year, $92.8 million contract with an annual cap hit of $11.6 million.<\/p>\n His future has been a significant source of speculation in Vancouver over the past two years and it is unclear where he fits as co-presidents Daniel and Henrik Sedin and general manager Ryan Johnson<\/a> take over the team\u2019s front office. <\/p>\n \u201cI had a great conversation with Petey. I really enjoyed being able to just talk very openly and honestly about my feelings about his process and some of the adversity and some of the challenges \u2013 and there\u2019s a lot of them based on the time he\u2019s been here \u2013 but I wanted to hear him speak,” Johnson said at his introductory press conference last week. \u201cI wanted him to be able to speak without judgment, that he knew I was there to listen and not to judge, or to allow him just to speak openly and freely. I think the biggest thing, whatever happens here moving forward, is that I just wanted him to know that I was very comfortable with him just being himself.\u201d<\/p>\n Pettersson has been one of the most productive offensive performers for the Canucks over his eight-year career and set a career-high in 2022-23 with 38 goals and 102 points in 80 games.<\/p>\n However, he struggled in 2024-25, recording 15 goals and 45 points in 64 games and butted heads with teammate J.T. Miller<\/a>, who was eventually traded to the New York Rangers<\/a>.<\/p>\n Drafted fifth overall by the Canucks in 2017, Pettersson has 200 goals and 508 points in 545 career games.<\/p>\n Matthews appears to be staying put<\/p>\n TSN Hockey Insider Pierre LeBrun writes in The Athletic that \u201call signs point to Auston Matthews<\/a> staying put and playing for the Toronto Maple Leafs<\/a> next season.\u201d<\/p>\n LeBrun notes that Matthews\u2019 agent, Judd Moldaver, has not formally indicated that yet, but it appears interested suitors such as the Los Angeles Kings<\/a>, Anaheim Ducks<\/a> and Utah Mammoth<\/a> will have to look elsewhere on the trade market. <\/p>\n Matthews finished last season with career lows in all statistical categories, recording 27 goals and 53 points in 60 games.<\/p>\n His year culminated with a season-ending injury on March 12 after sustaining a grade-three MCL tear and quad contusion from a knee-on-knee hit with Anaheim Ducks<\/a> captain Radko Gudas<\/a>.<\/p>\n The Maple Leafs have overhauled their front office since then, replacing general manager Brad Treliving with John Chayka and the team is continuing to search for their next head coach. <\/p>\n The 28-year-old centre is signed for two more seasons at a cap hit of $13.25 million. <\/p>\n No trade request from Werenski<\/p>\n Another player who appears off the market is Columbus Blue Jackets<\/a> star Zach Werenski<\/a>.<\/p>\n LeBrun reports that despite speculation Werenski could follow his close friend Dylan Larkin<\/a> in requesting a trade, no such request has been made to this point.<\/a><\/p>\n Werenski won his first career Norris Trophy earlier this month after posting 22 goals and 81 points in 75 games this season. He is the Blue Jackets\u2019 all-time leader in goals and points by a defenceman.<\/p>\n LeBrun notes that a conversation about Werenski\u2019s future will likely come at some point this summer between the blueliner and the Blue Jackets and it is unclear where that will lead. <\/p>\n The 28-year-old is also signed for two more seasons at a cap hit of $9.58 million. <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Free Agent Frenzy on July 1 continues to draw closer and TSN.ca keeps you up to date with…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":512334,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[433],"tags":[712,49,48,81620,448,82,83915],"class_list":["post-730024","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-nhl","tag-apple-news","tag-ca","tag-canada","tag-elias-pettersson-sports-hockey-player-player-nhl-api-8480012","tag-nhl","tag-sports","tag-vancouver-canucks-sports-hockey-team-team-nhl-api-23"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/730024","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=730024"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/730024\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/512334"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=730024"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=730024"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=730024"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}