Elias Pettersson hasn't been asked to waive his no-move clause yet, per Rick Dhaliwal. The Canucks are in rebuild mode.
Don't believe anything is close. That's Dhaliwal's message Thursday amid a wave of Pettersson trade speculation.
Rick Dhaliwal added on Oilers Now that money is very tight in Vancouver. The owner is going into a rebuild, and everything moving through the organization is money out, money in.
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That financial reality shapes every conversation Ryan Johnson is having as the new GM.
Henrik and Daniel Sedin, now co-presidents of hockey operations, are running a tight ship with a clear rebuild mandate from ownership.
Pettersson posted 15 goals and 51 points in 74 games this season at an $11,600,000 cap hit. He finished minus-30 on a team that allowed 316 goals, dead last in the entire league.
That cap number is the hardest one to move in a cash-restricted market. Any team taking on $11.6 million has to send money back. Right now, Johnson can't absorb salary he's trying to shed.
Vancouver scored only 216 goals this season, second-lowest in the league.
Brock Boeser went minus-48 in 75 games. Filip Hronek went minus-23 in 82. This was a team-wide collapse, not one player's failure.
Sedin brothers and Ryan Johnson face defining offseason decision on Pettersson
The new front office trio inherited a roster with real structural problems and a budget that limits how aggressively they can attack them.
Trading Pettersson would generate real cap relief but would need a significant return.
Manny Malhotra is coaching a young group that includes Zeev Buium at 20 and Tom Willander at 21. The rebuild timeline is long. Pettersson is 27.
Whether he fits that future or funds it is the question Johnson and the Sedins haven't answered publicly yet.
The no-move clause is Pettersson's protection for now. Until he's formally asked to waive it, everything else is just noise.
Should the Canucks trade Elias Pettersson to accelerate their rebuild?
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