It was a struggle for the Vancouver Canucks during the 2025-26 NHL season, as they not only traded their captain and top defenseman in club history Quinn Hughes to the Minnesota Wild , but also traded away multiple other players, including Conor Garland and Tyler Myers .
The Canucks also were rumored to be attempting to trade forward Elias Pettersson , though he ultimately remained in place through the rest of the season, which was followed by a dramatic shift in team leadership both in the executive front office and behind the bench.
Former Canucks forward Ryan Johnson now serves as GM following the termination of Patrik Allvin, while the Sedin brothers are back with the club in executive roles. Additionally, former Canucks forward Manny Malhotra replaced Adam Foote as head coach.
All this being said, does Pettersson still fit into the long-term plans of Vancouver's new leadership group? Based on a new report, it appears that he very well may.
As previously stated, Pettersson was heavily rumored in the days and weeks leading up to the NHL Trade Deadline in March, but ultimately wasn't dealt.
According to notable Canucks Insider Rick Dhaliwal, Pettersson was never approached by Vancouver's former leadership group about waiving his no-trade clause in order to facilitate a deal.
"As far as I know, when I checked in… an Elias Pettersson trade never got close in the last few months," Dhaliwal said. "The Canucks never went to his agent and said, 'Hey, we got a team, will you waive?"
Not long after being hired by the Canucks in an executive role, Henrik Sedin issued a blunt message to Pettersson, saying that it was time for him to choose which path he was going to take moving forward.
"We're gonna be there to support him," Henrik said . "In the end, he needs to decide; we can't push him to do anything. He needs to decide what player he wants to be, because when he is prepared, and when he comes into the season well-prepared, I think he's gonna surprise a lot of people.
"We'll be there to support him; he's gonna have to make a decision."
Twin brother Daniel built upon Henrik's words, saying:
"We've been through this, as players, exactly what he's been through," Daniel said. "You're going to have some really good seasons, you're going to have some tougher seasons. What we found after a long career, looking back, is that the best seasons we had, we were well prepared… That is everything you can control, is how hard you work in the summer. Mentally ready to go when training camp hits. So I think that's the one message to him, is preparation."
Pettersson, whom the Canucks selected in the first round (fifth overall pick) in the 2017 NHL Draft, has skated in 545 career games and has scored 200 goals with 308 assists. He's also contributed eight goals with 16 assists in 30 games in the Stanley Cup Playoffs.
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