Canucks' Elias Pettersson move could happen soon, if it's going to happen at all

2 hours ago 3

The interesting part of the Elias Pettersson trade rumors -- really, more of a concept -- is that it's not totally clear what team would acquire him.

Pettersson is currently under a massive, tricky contract with the Vancouver Canucks. The widespread assumption is that he makes sense for the Canucks to trade away.

But who wants him?

That could answer whether a deal happens soon, or not at all.

Free agency opens on July 1, and Pettersson's contract is bulky. The longer the offseason goes, the tougher it'll be to move him. More salary cap space will be spoken for.

It also makes sense that Vancouver would want to trade Pettersson and have more money to work with in this free agency period.

The Canucks certainly aren't a win-now team, but they'd surely like to start moving in the right direction.

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Pettersson, on the one hand, is still a solid center with good defensive capabilities.

On the other hand, he's signed to a contract that pays him $11.6 million per season through the 2031-32 campaign.

For what Pettersson is now -- a decline from what he was when he signed the deal -- that's too much.

The Canucks can retain a portion of that salary when they trade him, to prevent another team from having to pay that whole cap hit.

But if it's going to happen, it might have to happen soon.

If not, the Canucks could be stuck with Pettersson for a while.