Canucks Will Reportedly Only Trade Pettersson In One Situation

The Vancouver Canucks seemingly have a good amount of work to do this offseason if they not only want to get back to the postseason, but make some noise when they get there. The team has gotten a lot worse from where they were at when they won the Pacific Division. Not a lot went right last season, including injuries, but there is always a chance.

The Canucks are just at the beginning (year two) of Elias Pettersson's eight-year deal at $11.6 million AAV and Elliotte Friedman reported that the Canucks will only trade him if it solves their center problems. The problem arose when Vancouver traded J.T. Miller to the New York Rangers and the centerman they got back was Filip Chytil.

Miller is a number one center in the NHL and a workhorse. Chytil will likely end up as a third line center with a possibility of being a second line center if health doesn't continue to hold him back and he is able to improve. So right now, the Canucks have a mess with Pettersson who should be a number one center, but didn't play like one, Chytil, who is a third line center if he's healthy, and might let Pius Suter, who filled in well in the top-6, hit free agency.

While some may be on board with doing a one-for-one of Pettersson and Marco Rossi, I think the Canucks lose that deal, not only because of what Pettersson did this season, but also because he scored 39 goals and 102 points two seasons ago. Rossi just broke out for 24 goals and 60 points. I could be off in a year or two, but Pettersson was clearly dealing with an injury and is only 26 years old. One bad season without the chance of rebounding would make it a rash decision to trade him.

While I don't think any team would trade multiple centers for Pettersson, that would be the only situation where the Canucks would realistically get better at center. At this point, the Canucks are stuck with Pettersson and will have to hope he rebounds and plays like he did before.