Recently, the agent for Canucks center Elias Pettersson indicated that he wasn’t sure if there would be any more contract discussions between now and the end of the season. Pettersson himself has now shut the door on that idea, telling NHL.com’s Kevin Woodley that he wants to wait for those talks until after the season ends. The 25-year-old cracked the 100-point mark last season for the first time and is on pace to eclipse that again this year, putting himself in a great bargaining position for his final trip through restricted free agency this summer. Pettersson is owed a qualifying offer of $8.82MM at that time but it will take a few million more than that to get him to pen to paper on a contract when the time comes.
More from Vancouver:
- The team announced last night (Twitter link) that forward Linus Karlsson was recalled from AHL Abbotsford. The 24-year-old has now been recalled four times this season but the first three didn’t result in much playing time as he suited up in just four contests with Vancouver. Karlsson has spent most of the season in the minors and has been quite productive, recording nine goals and 16 assists in 27 games. He could take the place of Andrei Kuzmenko in the lineup tonight against Toronto, Postmedia’s Patrick Johnston suggests.
- Speaking of Kuzmenko, Sportsnet’s Iain McIntyre speculates that if the Canucks need to clear cap space to make any upgrades before the trade deadline, the winger is the likeliest candidate to move. Previously, Tyler Myers and his expiring $6MM AAV had been perceived as trade bait but he’s playing an important role on the back end while Kuzmenko has struggled mightily in his sophomore year. However, being only a year removed from a 39-goal campaign will likely have teams interested in him as a buy-low candidate, even with a $5.5MM price tag through next season.
A Canuck win tonight should put Keefe in the unemployment line tomorrow.