Canucks make their Elias Pettersson trade stance clear

The Vancouver Canucks could still go either way on Elias Pettersson.

The talented two-way center has been involved in trade rumors for the last couple months, and now the NHL trade deadline is just a day away, on Friday.

Will Pettersson stay? Or will he go? It genuinely seems not to have been decided yet.

The latest from The Athletic's Pierre LeBrun suggests the Canucks are open but not too needy.

"Teams continue to check in with the Vancouver Canucks on Elias Pettersson, and the Canucks have told teams that they’re open to moving him — but he isn’t a must-trade from their perspective," LeBrun writes. "Vancouver is more than fine if he stays put through this deadline."

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Pettersson's contract is the biggest part of the problem here. Anyone trading for him would be making a huge commitment to a guy that hasn't really improved at all since signing the deal.

"Pettersson has six more years on his deal at an $11.6 million average annual value, so a team would really have to be sure a better version of EP40 is going to show up more often than not with a change of scenery to deal for him," LeBrun writes.

LeBrun goes on to name three teams he thinks would make sense -- but also that he doesn't think it'll happen by Friday.

"The Carolina Hurricanes, the Kings and the Detroit Red Wings are suitors I wonder about," LeBrun writes. "But I think it’s more likely than not that Pettersson stays put through this deadline."

If Pettersson stays put, it doesn't necessarily mean that the Canucks didn't try. This was never going to be an easy contract to move.

They may just end up hoping he rediscovers himself, because it'll be hard going forward with him still on board and playing like this.

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