Canucks' Elias Pettersson Increasing Trade Value With Hot Start

The Vancouver Canucks couldn't give away Elias Pettersson for pennies on the dollar this past offseason, and now after a stellar three-game start to the 2026-27 season, EP40 is turning heads with his strong play.

The veteran center has gotten off to a very hot start, scoring two goals, and five points, in three games, but what might be most impressive is the fact he's landed 16 hits, and looks like a completely different play. Pettersson looks engaged, he's physical, and his skating has been very impressive, as he's dropped some weight heading into the season.

Sportnet's Michael Amato recently discussed Pettersson as a potential trade chip for the Canucks: 

Pettersson’s AAV ($11.6m) could still be an issue with several years left to go on the deal, but if the Canucks could eat a bit of the money or take a bad contract back in return, it should make facilitating a trade easier. Vancouver has nearly $16 million of cap space to work with, so it’s certainly doable. With all that said, it’s still going to take Pettersson maintaining his strong play for a substantial amount of time before other teams start showing any serious interest. There’s a long way to go, but maybe there’s a team out there that’s willing to make the Canucks a decent offer for Pettersson by the deadline. It certainly doesn’t seem as impossible as it once did.

Teams to keep an eye on early on this season for the Pettersson sweepstakes include, the Montreal Canadiens, Carolina Hurricanes, and Pittsburgh Penguins.

Elias Pettersson has thrown EIGHT hits in each of his last two games 😳 This version of EP40 has an edge to him 💪 https://t.co/xVilgBQwiB

— Gino Hard (@GinoHard_) October 4, 2026