"With the Vancouver Canucks officially in a rebuild, the rumour mill will be churning every day with new speculation on who president Jim Rutherford and general manager (GM) Patrik Allvin will trade next. They started with dealing captain Quinn Hughes to the Minnesota Wild in December and recently moved their leading goalscorer Kiefer Sherwood to the San Jose Sharks. Now, it appears that Elias Pettersson, even though he has a no-move clause, could be the next star packing his bags."
"The Los Angeles Kings will be losing a key part of their roster in the offseason when captain Anze Kopitar hangs up his skates. They can't hope to replace his leadership and solid two-way play, not to mention his legacy in LA, with a trade or free-agent signing, but Pettersson could help fill the gap on the second line behind Quinton Byfield after he leaves."
"Despite the fall-off in production, Pettersson is still one of the top two-way centres in the league and is good for at least 20-25 goals a season. He won't be the faceoff dynamo Kopitar is, but he can fill his role on the power play and penalty kill, and might even return to form alongside his former linemate Andrei Kuzmenko. Don't forget, Kuzmenko had his career-high 39 goals and 74 points playing mostly with Pettersson during his 102-point season in 2022-23."
Vancouver Canucks are in a rebuild and began trading key players, including captain Quinn Hughes to Minnesota and leading goalscorer Kiefer Sherwood to San Jose. Elias Pettersson remains a potential trade candidate despite holding a no-move clause that gives him control over any move. Insiders identified five interested teams. The Los Angeles Kings could pursue Pettersson to help replace captain Anze Kopitar and bolster their second line behind Quinton Byfield. Pettersson is a top two-way centre who can score 20-25 goals, contribute on the power play and penalty kill, and has chemistry with Andrei Kuzmenko. The Kings may offer draft picks.
Read at The Hockey Writers
Unable to calculate read time
Collection
[
|
...
]