- Elliotte Friedman floated the Penguins as a landing spot for Elias Pettersson on 32 Thoughts
- Pittsburgh already signed his old linemate Andrei Kuzmenko in free agency
- Read below for the no-movement clause that could hold up any deal
Pittsburgh’s superstar hunt has a new name attached to it.
Sportsnet’s Elliotte Friedman spent time on where Elias Pettersson could end up during Monday’s 32 Thoughts podcast, and he kept circling back to the Penguins.
“The ground has shifted here in a huge way,” Friedman said. “I’ve sat there and I’ve said, where could he go that could be good for him? I don’t know. I wonder if the Penguins, with Crosby and Malkin, might be good for him.”
Watch Friedman lay out the case:
The fit runs deeper than Crosby and Malkin. Pittsburgh signed Andrei Kuzmenko to a one-year deal in free agency, and he spent a season and a half riding shotgun with Pettersson in Vancouver.
Pettersson’s 102-point year in 2022-23 came with Kuzmenko on his wing. Reuniting them gives Kyle Dubas a reason to pick up the phone.
There’s a catch, and it might be the biggest one. Pettersson holds a full no-movement clause, so nothing happens unless he signs off on it.
Some around the league believe he’d rather stay on the west coast, which makes the player himself the trickiest piece of any deal.
The money is the other hurdle. Pettersson is signed through 2031-32 at an $11.6 million cap hit, the extension Vancouver handed him after that breakout season:
Vancouver is expected to retain some of that salary to make a trade work.
The production hasn’t matched the contract lately. Pettersson scored 15 goals in each of the last two seasons after that 39-goal, 102-point breakout, and he turns 28 in November.
A move to Pittsburgh could be the reset both sides are looking for. The Penguins have swung big all summer, already linked to a Jason Robertson trade as Dubas hunts for the next face of the franchise.
Whether Pettersson waives his no-movement clause for a cross-continent move is the only domino left to fall.
