Report: Elias Pettersson Is Safe... For Now

After weeks and weeks of speculation over how the Vancouver Canucks would break up their duelling duo of JT Miller and Elias Petterson, they finally pulled the trigger and sent Miller back to his original team, the New York Rangers in a big move Friday night.

And while Vancouver was willing to trade either of their beleaguered centers, now, according to Thomas Drance in The Athletic, "Elias Petterson is off the block."

The decision has been made. Miller is a New York Rangers player again, and the Canucks will move on with Pettersson. Obviously, it’s that time of year when things can change with one phone call, but Pettersson shouldn’t be expected to move before the NHL trade deadline at this point.

That being said, Drance adds that the Canucks' $92 million man better pull up his bootstraps (skate laces?) now that his antagonist Miller is gone, and elevate his game back to the level that they're paying him $11.6M annually for.

"He’s going to have to step up, and he knows that," writes Drance, "...specifically in terms of his preparation and his leadership."

Pettersson, the 6-foot-2, 26-year-old center, has seen his numbers drop significantly across the board this season: just 11 goals and 33 points in 45 games, after a 39-goal, 102-point season in 2022-23, and a 34-goal, 89-point year in 2023-24. Even his physicality is down, from 125 hits last season to just 41 this year.

The Swede's full no-move clause takes effect on July 1st, so the Canucks do have two or three months to make their final decision if they're still in for the long haul on Pettersson.