- Rick Dhaliwal says an Elias Pettersson trade never got close over the past few months
- Video of Pettersson skating at the Kings’ facility restarted the LA speculation
- Read below for what one team told Dhaliwal it would take to even open talks
Elias Pettersson skating at the Los Angeles Kings practice facility set the rumor mill spinning again. Canucks insider Rick Dhaliwal has a much duller explanation for it.
Dhaliwal was asked about the LA sighting on Canucks Conversation, and he took the air out of it fast: a Pettersson trade has not come close in months.
“His wife’s from LA. I mean, most likely that’s the reason he’s there. You’re allowed to practice anywhere in the world. Like, would you prefer him not to train? As far as I know, when I checked in last night, a Pettersson trade never got close in the last few months.”
Watch the full interview:
Vancouver never got far enough along to make a phone call to Pettersson’s camp, according to Dhaliwal.
“The Canucks never went to his agent and said, ‘Hey, we got a team. Will you waive (your no-move clause) to go to this team?’ There’s been a lot of conjecture. There’s been a lot of talks. There’s a lot of teams checking in. It’s not an easy trade to make. Still a lot of term left on that deal.”
That term is the wall. Pettersson has six years left at $11.6 million a season on the eight-year, $92.8 million extension he signed in March 2024, and a full no-movement clause sits on top of it.
Retention is the other piece. Dhaliwal passed along what one club told him it would take to even start a conversation.
“I know for a fact that one team told me, to get in the Pettersson talks, they need retention. Two, two and a half, close to three (million) per year to make it work.”
Here’s the clip from the Kings’ facility that got everyone going in the first place:
Los Angeles is an easy team to link him to. Anze Kopitar is retired and the Kings have a hole down the middle they have not filled.
Production is what keeps stalling it out. Pettersson piled up 73 goals and 191 points in 162 games across 2022-23 and 2023-24, then signed the extension on the strength of it. He has 30 goals and 96 points in 138 games since, at a minus-40.
New general manager Ryan Johnson said last month he would not move Pettersson purely to dump salary, even with Vancouver trying to cut roughly $20 million in payroll. Few teams are willing to pay real value for an expensive question mark.
So Pettersson opens camp in Penticton next month, and the Canucks pick this back up in the winter.
