Elias Pettersson Turned Down a Trade to the Penguins, Are They Circling Back with a New Offer?

It appears the Pittsburgh Penguins’ push to acquire Jason Robertson is over. Now, they’ve pivoted and reportedly set their sights on another big name.

The Penguins have reportedly shifted their focus toward acquiring Elias Pettersson from the Vancouver Canucks, according to Penguins analyst Tyler Kennedy, as cited by Andrew Fillipponi.

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Per Kennedy, Vancouver is asking for Ben Kindel in return, a price point that has reportedly made the deal difficult to complete. Kindel had 17 goals and 35 points in 77 games last season. He’s a $975K cap hit, which means the Penguins would take on all of Pettersson’s salary if Vancouver didn’t retain any.

Meanwhile, Pettersson, a center coming off a 51-point season, still has six years remaining on his contract at a $11.6 million cap hit.

This Pettersson Trade Has Already Failed Once

Sportsnet’s Elliotte Friedman added on the 32 Thoughts podcast that Pittsburgh previously had a deal in place to reunite Pettersson with linemate Andrei Kuzmenko under a new coaching staff — but Pettersson said no. It’s unclear why he has been hesitant about going to Pittsburgh, but it’s unclear if he’s changed his stance given the news that Pittsburgh is trying again.

Friedman suggested that playing alongside Sidney Crosby and Evgeni Malkin could still benefit Pettersson’s game, even as some in Pittsburgh’s fan base would rather see the Penguins pursue other targets.

Pittsburgh has roughly $17 million in cap space and could absorb Pettersson’s full contract without cuts. It seems unlikely Kyle Dubas would want to do so unless he was sending a bad contract back the other way. It could lead to speculation that they are trying to attach defenseman Ryan Graves to the deal. He is signed for three more years at $4.5 million, to help Vancouver reach the cap floor.

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