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Elias Pettersson

Vancouver Canucks Agree To Terms On Elias Pettersson, Quinn Hughes Contracts

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October 3: Darren Dreger of TSN has reported that the final contract structure of both deals is as follows:

Pettersson
2021-22: $3MM salary + $1MM signing bonus
2022-23: $7.8MM salary
2023-24: $10.25MM salary

Hughes
2021-22: $4MM salary
2022-23: $6.5MM salary
2023-24: $8.6MM salary
2024-25: $9.5MM salary
2025-26: $10.25MM salary
2026-27: $8.25MM salary

October 1: TSN’s Pierre LeBrun reports that the Vancouver Canucks have agreed to terms on multi-year deals with restricted free agents Elias Pettersson and Quinn Hughes. Pettersson’s deal is for three years at an average annual value of $7.35MM, while Hughes’ deal is for six years at $7.85MM. LeBrun says that the contracts themselves have yet to be finalized.

Sportsnet’s Satiar Shah was the first to report last night that Hughes’ deal would be six years in length, while The Athletic’s Rick Dhaliwal reported a three-year deal for Pettersson.

Pettersson’s three-year commitment comes after scoring 153 points in just 165 games during his first three seasons in the league. The fifth-overall pick in the 2017 NHL Draft continues to be regarded as a top-ten center in the league by some, but injury issues this season limited his production (and negotiation leverage) with 21 points in 26 games. Winner of the 2019 Calder Trophy, Pettersson’s contract is certainly of spectacular value to the Canucks at this time. The scoring and two-way game Pettersson brings to the table both make it seem like he’s earning about $1.5-$2MM less than he should.

Hughes, a year younger than his forward counterpart, has had a near equal amount of success and accolades throughout his young career. While the soon-to-be-22-year-old has only two full NHL seasons under his belt, his 53 points in 68 games (along with 21:53 average time on ice) in 2019-20 were good enough to place him second in Calder Trophy voting, even earning some Norris Trophy votes along the way. While his defensive game stumbled slightly this year, the point production kept up with 41 points in 56 games. A long-term commitment is key here for Vancouver, ensuring some cost certainty at a reasonable cap hit while he continues to develop.

Concerns were aplenty surrounding Vancouver’s ability to fit both Pettersson and Hughes under an $81.5MM salary cap this season, but with forward Micheal Ferland headed to long-term injury reserve, general manager Jim Benning appears to have successfully manipulated a tight financial situation. CapFriendly projects a current cap hit of $82.9MM with a full 23-man roster for the Canucks, exceeding the salary cap by much less than Ferland’s $3.5MM cap hit. While the specifics of how Vancouver can maximize cap relief haven’t been hammered out quite yet, they’ll at least rest now knowing they’ll be compliant for the start of the season.

These contracts set up an important season for this Canucks core, as they look to return to the playoffs after a surprise run in 2020. Pettersson will likely be reprising his role as the team’s first-line center, being flanked by J.T. Miller and Brock Boeser. The secondary scoring’s been bolstered by the addition of Conor Garland, while young wingers Nils Hoglander and Vasily Podkolzin could make big impacts.

Hughes comes in as the undisputed number one defenseman on the team after Alexander Edler’s departure in free agency to the Los Angeles Kings. While the additions of Oliver Ekman-Larsson and Tucker Poolman to the blueline have been controversial from an outside perspective, the team still hopes bounce-back campaigns are in order for both of them. Hughes’ ice time will undoubtedly increase from the 22:48 he played last year, becoming an increasingly important fixture within the team.

Canucks Nearing Contract For Quinn Hughes

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Shortly after multiple reports surfaced that Vancouver was making progress on deals for their remaining restricted free agents, the Canucks appear to be closing in on a new contract for defenseman Quinn Hughes.  Sportsnet’s Satiar Shah is among those reporting (Twitter link) that the blueliner is nearing a six-year contract with an AAV of around $7.75MM.  If the agreement winds up being made official at those terms, it will be the richest contract handed out by Canucks GM Jim Benning.

Hughes, the seventh-overall pick in 2018, has quickly emerged as one of the bigger offensive threats from the back end around the NHL.  He has recorded 94 points in 124 games over his two seasons, good for a tie with Colorado’s Cale Makar for fourth among blueliners league-wide.  Makar, by comparison, inked a six-year deal of his own this summer, with an AAV of $9MM.  His play in his own end is still more of a work in progress but at 21, there is still plenty of time for improvement on that front.

The contract would buy out Hughes’ five remaining RFA-eligible seasons plus his first year of UFA eligibility so Vancouver doesn’t gain a lot of team control with this contract but ensures that their biggest offensive threat defensively will be ready to go for the start of the season where he will battle with newcomer Oliver Ekman-Larsson for the top spot on the left side of Vancouver’s defense.  Worth noting is that only the final year of his contract will be eligible for trade protection because it is the only UFA year.

With Vancouver having a little under $14MM in cap room per CapFriendly (before accounting for Micheal Ferland who is likely LTIR-bound again), it will likely push them in the direction of a bridge contract for RFA forward Elias Pettersson.  To that end, Rick Dhaliwal of CHEK and The Athletic reports (Twitter link) that a three-year deal worth around $7.7MM could be on the table.  With both players being represented by CAA Sports, the deals have basically been worked on together and it wouldn’t be surprising if an announcement from the team will come when both players have officially agreed to terms.  That won’t happen tonight, reports Sportsnet’s Iain MacIntyre (Twitter link).

Latest On Vancouver’s Restricted Free Agents

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There are two notable absentees from Vancouver’s training camp in defenseman Quinn Hughes and forward Elias Pettersson who remain unsigned.  However, it appears contract talks between the Canucks and their representatives at CAA are starting to improve as Thomas Drance of The Athletic reports (Twitter link) that some progress was made on both fronts today while Rick Dhaliwal of CHEK and The Athletic adds (via Twitter) that Hughes’ deal is closer to be being completed out of the two though they are being done together.  In the latest TSN Insider Trading segment (video link), TSN’s Darren Dreger mentions that the state of discussions could be classified as “grinding” so there is clearly some work still to be done.

While the Canucks would undoubtedly like to get long-term deals done with both players, they may not have the cap space to do so and keep wiggle room for in-season movement – roughly $17MM per CapFriendly if Micheal Ferland returns to LTIR.  Hughes would likely be seeking a deal similar to Cale Makar’s in Colorado ($9MM AAV for six years) while Pettersson’s comparables on a long-term pact could push him over the $9MM mark as well.

One potential factor here is the status of defenseman Travis Hamonic who remains unvaccinated with the deadline to opt out of the season coming up on Friday.  If that happens, he would come off the salary cap some of his $3MM AAV could be redirected towards Hughes and Pettersson although some would need to be earmarked to a replacement blueliner as well.

At the very least, it appears as if discussions are heading in the right direction.  And until Hamonic’s situation is finalized on Friday, they may have to wait a little longer until they officially know how much they’ll have available to spend on their young stars.

Remaining RFAs Training Together As Season Approaches

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If you navigate to the restricted free agent page on CapFriendly, only five names remain unsigned for the upcoming season. Two of them are New York Islanders players–Anatoly Golyshev and Kieffer Bellows–who are both already in training camp even though the team has not officially announced new contracts. The other three, Elias Pettersson, Brady Tkachuk and Quinn Hughes, are having their own kind of training camp in Michigan. Pierre LeBrun of The Athletic reports that the three are now skating together as they continue to wait out their contract negotiations.

Pettersson joined Hughes there as the Vancouver Canucks deal directly with representative Pat Brisson on new deals for the young stars. As recently as Tuesday, the super-agent told Rick Dhaliwal of CHEK TV that he and the club were speaking every other day, working to get deals done as soon as possible. But it’s now a couple of days into camp and the two most important players on the Vancouver roster are not even in the country.

In Ottawa, things are moving forward without Tkachuk, the team’s best forward and likely their next captain. GM Pierre Dorion once again told reporters including Wayne Scanlan of Sportsnet that the negotiations were “productive and positive,” but the 22-year-old is now missing from camp in an all-important year for the Senators. The team is looking to turn the corner on their rebuild and Tkachuk is the player that needs to lead them there.

A week ago, Justin Bourne of Sportsnet wrote a column detailing his viewpoint on missing the start of training camp. He makes the case that the early part of the season is the most crucial, because of the trust it builds between the coaching staff and roster. While neither Vancouver nor Ottawa have rookie head coaches trying to get the respect of the room, they are both teams that are by no means guaranteed a playoff spot or even a competitive season. Any disruption to the start of the year could cascade throughout the entire schedule.

For now though, all the players can do is train on their own and wait for a resolution. Thomas Drance of The Athletic writes that it will have to be Pettersson that signs before Hughes, because of the latter’s status as a 10.2(c) RFA that cannot be signed to an offer sheet. If they signed them in the reverse, it would open a window for another team to swoop in and offer something to Pettersson that would be difficult to match under the Canucks’ current cap situation.

At this point, there are no more comparables to be signed, as these are the three pillars left standing. The only real pressure point coming now is the start of the regular season, certainly not something either side wants to wait for.

Snapshots: Canucks, Brown, Warner

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The Canucks remain a team to watch for with training camp fast approaching with their two prominent unsigned players in defenseman Quinn Hughes and forward Elias Pettersson.  Speaking with Sportsnet’s Iain MacIntyre, GM Jim Benning indicated that “there’s no angry sides” as they continue to talk either every day or every second day.  Vancouver has enough cap room to potentially sign one of the two to a long-term contract and the other a bridge deal but MacIntyre reports that at this point, short-term contracts for both are the current focus.  With both being represented by CAA, the discussions are basically intertwined.  Benning expressed a desire to have both stars signed before training camp starts so agreements will need to be in place soon for that to happen.

Elsewhere around the hockey world:

  • Senators Logan Brown is one of 11 remaining restricted free agents in the NHL but that shouldn’t be the case much longer. While both sides wouldn’t mind a change of scenery, Postmedia’s Bruce Garrioch reports that the expectation is that Brown will soon accept his qualifying offer and be at the start of training camp.  The offer, which technically has expired although players can still sign for that amount, is a two-way deal worth just over $874K.  Brown will require waivers to be sent back to the AHL this season and if he doesn’t make Ottawa’s roster in training camp, a waiver claim could wind up being how he goes elsewhere.
  • Former Wild defensive prospect Hunter Warner retired late last month at the age of 25 but as it turns out, he’s not leaving sports entirely. Instead, he has taken up boxing, notes Dane Mizutani of the Pioneer Press.  Warner was undrafted but signed with Minnesota in 2014 and played in parts of six professional seasons with AHL Iowa before hanging up his skates.

RFA Profile: Elias Pettersson

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Elias Pettersson burst onto the scene in 2018-19, immediately becoming a top-line player on the Canucks.  He has been a fixture in that role since then, putting him in line for a substantial raise once he signs his second contract which should be at some point over the next few weeks with training camps fast approaching.

Drafted as a center, the 22-year-old has split time between playing down the middle and on the wing which expands the pool of comparable players to work from.  Either way, Pettersson is going to be staying on the top trio.

There are a couple of elements that are going to be at play in these talks.  One is that he missed the last 30 games with a wrist injury and while no one is saying he had something to prove there, he’s basically working off of two years worth of NHL games played whereas many of his comparables had three full years under their belt.  It’s not going to drastically affect his value but it’s going to be something to keep in mind.

The other is Vancouver’s cap situation.  By the time they whittle their roster down and place Micheal Ferland on LTIR, they’re going to have around $15MM to spend.  That’s plenty for Pettersson but there’s also Quinn Hughes that needs to be signed.  They can’t both get long-term deals; at least one of them is getting a bridge.  How talks go with one will play a big role in negotiations for the other.  (Both happen to be represented by CAA’s Pat Brisson as well.)

Statistics

2020-21: 26 GP, 10-11-21, even, 66 PIMS, 63 shots, 18:34 ATOI
Career: 165 GP, 65-88-153 (0.93 points per game), +19, 36 PIMS, 369 shots, 18:24 ATOI

Comparables

Brayden Point (Tampa Bay, 2019) – Let’s look at a couple of bridge options first.  Point was basically stuck signing one due to Tampa’s cap situation, a situation that Pettersson could be in as well depending on what happens with Hughes.  Point’s trajectory is different than Pettersson’s in that he started slower but had a dominant platform year which wasn’t an option for Pettersson but the per-game average numbers are somewhat close overall.

Platform Year Stats: 79 GP, 41-51-92, +27, 28 PIMS, 191 shots, 18:55 ATOI
Career Stats at ELC Expiration: 229 GP, 91-107-198 (0.86 points per game), +49, 66 PIMS, 530 shots, 18:38 ATOI
Contract: Three years, $20.25MM
Cap Hit Percentage: 8.28%
Current Equivalent: Same as above

Mathew Barzal (NY Islanders, 2021) – Barzal wasn’t able to repeat his rookie-season performance over his second and third years but still notched at least 60 points each time, a level of production Pettersson hit in his first two years, albeit with fewer games played.  Like Point, this deal was basically forced by New York’s cap situation and as it was signed earlier this year, it also stands as the most recent comparable out there.

Platform Year Stats: 68 GP, 19-41-60, +5, 44 PIMS, 171 shots, 20:03 ATOI
Career Stats at ELC Expiration: 234 GP, 59-148-207 (0.88 points per game), -1, 126 PIMS, 520 shots, 18:25 ATOI
Contract: Three years, $21MM
Cap Hit Percentage: 8.59%
Current Equivalent: Same as above

Those are basically the only two comparable players in the price range that it’s going to cost on a short-term contract so let’s look at a few longer-term deals.  The cost gets a lot higher with some UFA years being bought out as a result.

Jack Eichel (Buffalo, 2017) – Yes, this is a big contract but the offensive output between the two at the end of their entry-level deals is pretty close.  Eichel had the strength of a higher draft seed (second) and the fact he was basically Buffalo’s franchise player from the moment he was drafted.  Those gave him a bit of a boost that Pettersson might not be able to get but the numbers – which matter the most in contract talks – arguably have Pettersson in this range.  This contract was also viewed as a reach at the time but it’s still usable as a comparable.

Platform Year Stats: 67 GP, 25-39-64, -25, 32 PIMS, 246 shots, 20:09 ATOI (deal was signed pre-platform)
Career Stats at ELC Expiration: 209 GP, 73-104-177 (0.85 points per game), -54, 76 PIMS, 733 shots, 19:41 ATOI
Contract: Eight years, $80MM
Cap Hit Percentage: 13.33%
Current Equivalent: Eight years, $86.91MM ($10.864MM AAV)

Mikko Rantanen (Colorado, 2019) – The two players had very different trajectories – Rantanen started slow and then became a high-end performer while Pettersson has been more consistent – but again, the totals at the end of their respective entry-level deals are certainly comparable.  It’s fair to question if Pettersson has the offensive ceiling that Rantanen does which is an argument GM Jim Benning would certainly use in talks when this comes up as a possible comparable deal.

Platform Year Stats: 74 GP, 31-56-87, +13, 54 PIMS, 193 shots, 20:51 ATOI
Career Stats at ELC Expiration: 239 GP, 80-129-209 (0.87 points per game), -19, 112 PIMS, 513 shots, 18:53 ATOI
Contract: Six years, $55.5MM
Cap Hit Percentage: 11.35%
Current Equivalent: Same as above

Mitch Marner (Toronto, 2019) – This one would certainly represent the high end of the scale but it’s important to get one player on here whose point per game average at the end of his entry-level deal is at the same mark as Pettersson’s.  The only ones with a higher average that were recent high picks to sign long-term deals were Auston Matthews and Connor McDavid and Pettersson certainly isn’t in that range although that’s impressive company to be in.  Again, Marner’s offensive trajectory was higher at this point than Pettersson’s is now which is why this basically represents a bar he won’t clear but he could come close.

Platform Year Stats: 82 GP, 26-68-94, +22, 22 PIMS, 233 shots, 19:49 ATOI
Career Stats at ELC Expiration: 241 GP, 67-157-224 (0.93 points per game), +21, 86 PIMS, 603 shots, 17:41 ATOI
Contract: Six years, $65.408MM
Cap Hit Percentage: 13.38%
Current Equivalent: Same as above

Projected Contract

If you were looking at those last few comparables and thinking that Pettersson isn’t in that range, it’d certainly be understandable.  The fact is that he hasn’t played anywhere as many games as those players have thanks to the wrist injury and the last two years being shortened.  But the point per game average is there and Brisson is going to hammer that home in talks and not settle for considerably less than that.  Accordingly, a long-term deal that buys out at least a couple of UFA-eligible seasons could very well have an AAV starting with a nine.

That’s why the short-term contract is the easier play here.  If they’re able to work out a long-term deal with Hughes, they should still be able to afford a two-year or three-year bridge around the high $6MM/low $7MM range without creating any significant cap casualties.  Either way, while they don’t necessarily have to have a deal done with Hughes beforehand, the two basically need to get their deals done pretty much around the same time.  At this point, it may make more sense for Pettersson to get the short-term deal.

Photo courtesy of USA Today Sports Images.  Contract information via CapFriendly.

West Notes: Parayko, Ennis, Canucks

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Blues defenseman Colton Parayko missed 21 games last season due to a lingering back issue which likely kept the price tag lower on the eight-year, $52MM extension he just signed.  Speaking with reporters, including Tom Timmermann of the St. Louis Post-Dispatch, the veteran indicated that his back has fully recovered but the treatment to get to that point has been minimal.  Instead of surgery or extensive rehab, Parayko has largely just rested to heal the injury, something that simply wasn’t an option during the season when he tried to play through it.  Expectations will be much higher for him heading into this coming season with that extension now in place and with the back injury behind him, he should be able to have a bigger impact offensively after recording just 12 points in 32 contests.

More from the Western Conference:

  • Veteran forward Tyler Ennis is among those still sitting in the UFA pool but Postmedia’s Jim Matheson reports that there are some teams that have shown tentative interest along the lines of circling back to him as a fallback plan. He lists the Canucks as one of the teams that may have shown interest so far.  The 31-year-old had a limited role with Edmonton last season, notching just nine points in 30 games while being a regular scratch.  Accordingly, he’s someone that may have to settle for a PTO at this point whether that’s with Vancouver or someone else.
  • With one successful offer sheet now being completed, Sportsnet’s Elliotte Friedman noted in the latest 31 Thoughts podcast (audio link) that the Canucks have been the team believed to be the most concerned about an offer sheet this summer. Of their two remaining RFAs, only center Elias Pettersson is eligible to receive one as defenseman Quinn Hughes falls under the 10.2c classification.  Friedman adds that talks are expected to pick up with both unsigned players after there were basically no discussions for all of August.

Seven Notable RFAs Still Remain Unsigned

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It’s September 5th, which means that NHL preseason hockey is now less than three weeks away. Teams have been dealing with the realities of a flat salary cap for two offseasons now, but for some teams, it’s crunch time as their young star (or stars) remain in need of a new contract for the 2021-22 season.

While it’s obviously preferable for teams to get these players signed so they can join the team right away, teams do technically have until December 1st to sign any RFAs for them to be eligible to suit up this season. However, waiting into the season to sign the RFAs will increase the cap hit for the first year of the deal, something the league saw with William Nylander’s contract in 2018-19.

For some teams, mainly the Vancouver Canucks, that could be an issue. They’re the team that faces the largest potential cap crunch with both Elias Pettersson and Quinn Hughes to sign. The team currently carries $10.7MM in cap space, but that number could increase to as much as $14.2MM with Micheal Ferland being placed on long-term injured reserve. Pettersson and Hughes both struggled at times this season, but it’s hard to take results from any Canuck into account too much due to the team’s large-scale COVID-19 outbreak. Pettersson was limited to just 26 games because of injury, scoring 21 points. Hughes netted 41 points in 56 games. However, it’s still a hard argument to make that these two aren’t elite talents. Because of this, it’s likely impossible for Vancouver to afford both on long-term deals. One of them will likely be receiving a two-to-four-year contract with a much lower cap hit, but the contracts need to be signed before the start of the season in order to avoid any inflation on the already tight cap hits.

Then there’s two teams who’ve had long, drawn-out negotiations with their respective stars this offseason – the Minnesota Wild and Ottawa Senators. Both Kirill Kaprizov and Brady Tkachuk remain without deals. There appears to be some amount of hope for one team, though. Multiple reports in recent days have suggested the Wild are making progress on a deal, especially considering the deadline has now passed for Kaprizov to sign back home in Russia. The same can’t be said for Ottawa, as Tkachuk has claimed he hasn’t received a legitimate offer from the team and is beginning to get frustrated with the situation (as reported here by TSN’s Shawn Simpson). Ottawa does still have a great amount of salary cap flexibility, though, and they can afford for contract negotiations to stretch into the season.

Staying in Canada, the Edmonton Oilers still have Kailer Yamamoto to lock down in order to fill out their top-six forward group. When Oscar Klefbom is placed on LTIR and Alex Stalock is presumably sent down to the minors, the team will still have just around $1.8MM in cap space. Yamamoto likely won’t be signing anything longer than a two-year deal due to the situation. And though they can create some additional flexibility by not operating with a full roster, Edmonton will still be very interested in avoiding a prorated cap hit as the salary cap situation will remain tight no matter what.

Then there’s the remaining duo of youngsters playing for American teams – Rasmus Dahlin and Robert Thomas. Dahlin’s negotiations will be interesting to watch, purely to see if the team will commit to him long-term or not. The Sabres likely want to pay him more as the team still hasn’t reached the salary cap floor, as they still need to add roughly $2.5MM in cap hits to be cap-compliant. Dahlin will receive much more than that on any deal he signs. The Blues are in a bit of a pickle with Thomas, as the team has just $1.5MM in cap space remaining to ink the promising young forward. Thomas had only 12 points in 33 games this year and spent time injured, but had 10 goals and 42 points the season prior. It’ll likely be a one-year or two-year deal for Thomas, who finds himself in a very similar situation to Yamamoto in Edmonton.

All seven of these players will be watched with a keen eye by many in the hockey community as each day passes before camps open across the league. As the league emerges from the quiet part of the offseason, these players will likely dominate headlines sooner rather than later.

All salary cap figures via CapFriendly.com.

West Notes: Canucks, Thomas, Skinner

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There’s an expectation that one of Canucks RFAs Elias Pettersson and Quinn Hughes will have to take a short-term contract this summer in order for Vancouver to be cap-compliant for next season.  Speaking with Vancouver Hockey Now’s Rob Simpson, Pat Brisson, the agent for both youngsters, indicated that there’s no indication yet as to which player could wind up with which type of contract.  Simpson suggests that Pettersson, who has offer sheet eligibility, could be the likelier player to sign first since Hughes doesn’t have that right although the odds of the center receiving an offer sheet worth signing at this stage is highly unlikely.  No discussions are expected over the coming days with GM Jim Benning taking a quick summer break before training camp, something many general managers around the league are likely doing.

More from the Western Conference:

  • Blues RFA forward Robert Thomas is believed to be seeking a higher AAV than the $2.8MM that Jordan Kyrou received earlier this season, reports Jeremy Rutherford of The Athletic (subscription link). The 22-year-old is coming off a tough injury-riddled season that saw him post just a dozen points in 33 games but with 75 points in 136 contests over his first two seasons, he has enough of a track record to try to get that on a bridge deal.  Louis doesn’t have that much cap space but with Oskar Sundqvist headed for LTIR to start the season, that would give them enough of a buffer to get Thomas under contract although they’d need to get cap-compliant by the time Sundqvist returns.
  • Oilers goaltender Stuart Skinner has been Edmonton’s top goalie prospect basically since they drafted him back in the third round in 2017. However, as Postmedia’s David Staples notes, they’ve never really shown much confidence in him, evidenced by the acquisition of veterans in recent years including Alex Stalock who presently sits ahead of him for the third spot on the depth chart.  With some of their other prospects now in the minor pros (Ilya Konovalov and Olivier Rodrigue), time is running out for Skinner to establish himself as a viable option for Edmonton.  If that doesn’t happen soon, it’s possible that he’ll become a trade candidate if one of those other prospects is ready for a bigger role in Bakersfield.

Pacific Notes: Canucks, Koekkoek, Edler

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While many teams have dealt with most of their restricted free agents already, that can’t be said for Vancouver who still has center Elias Pettersson and defenseman Quinn Hughes among their unsigned youngsters.  Speaking with Postmedia’s Patrick Johnston, Pat Brisson – who represents both players – noted that there’s no holdup in talks between him and the Canucks.  Part of the delay is that both short-term and long-term deals are being pondered for both players although it’s unlikely they will be able to afford to give each of them a contract that would buy out some UFA eligibility.  It wouldn’t be surprising if talks pick up once they get a deal done with RFA center Jason Dickinson whose arbitration hearing is set for Friday.  Once that’s in place, they’ll have a better idea of how much they’ll be able to spend on their two young stars.

More from the Pacific:

  • David Staples of the Edmonton Journal examined the recent two-year deal that the Oilers handed to defenseman Slater Koekkoek. While his numbers were underwhelming last season – one goal in 18 games while averaging just 13:10 per contest – he was better than several Edmonton blueliners in terms of frequency of allowing scoring chances.  Koekkoek’s numbers usually wouldn’t be good enough to yield a multi-year contract so there’s a good chance that the team was intrigued by that particular stat as well.
  • Defenseman Alex Edler told Zach Dooley of LA Kings Insider that part of the reason that he signed with the Kings was how much interest they showed in him early along with the fit he’d have with the team. He added that he did field interest from other teams which likely helped push his price tag up to $3.5MM for next season, a somewhat high price tag for a player who had just eight assists in 52 games while logging his lowest ice time since 2007-08.  The 35-year-old should have a prominent role with Los Angeles next season and could be used in a shutdown capacity similar to the role he had at times in Vancouver.

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