Sportsnet 650: Satiar Shah and Bik Nizzar on where contract talks between the Vancouver Canucks and Elias Pettersson are at.
** NHLRumors.com transcription
Shah: I can’t sit here and say with certainty where the Canucks are at in terms of their negotiations with Elias Pettersson. It has been quiet, like it has been reported.
My sense however would be that. We saw a contract come in, and that was a Sebastian Aho contract. And as much as Pettersson had a better year than Sebastian Aho this past year, their overall point per game numbers are similar.
Aho got what, $9.5 million?”
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Nizzar: “$9.75 (million) and one guys having more playoff success.”
Shah: “Yes. Now, you can easily make the case that Pettersson had a bigger platform here. deserves more money and all that stuff, right?
I would imagine, especially with these camps waiting for precedents to get set and watching some of these contracts come in, that the Aho one is probably where Vancouver is kind of looking at right now. Be like, hey, if we’re going to be looking at what’s happening in the market, comparable players, $9.75 kind of looks like the range we’re in.
I don’t think Pettersson’s willing to do that, right? He obviously wants $10+ million.
So, right now it’s quiet but do we see the Canucks up that offer next month? Cause if you look at what happened with J.T. (Miller) and even with Bo (Horvat) to some extent, like they even made a better offer to Bo and as soon as they realized Bo wasn’t playing ball with them, they completely pivoted and decided to give J.T. a bit more and they got a deal done with J.T.
So that’s my kind of take here. It’s been quiet with the Canucks. I don’t expect anything to happen with Pettersson. I don’t expect any big trades to happen this month. But do we see them up there offer a little bit?
Cause if we’re talking about Aho money, I don’t see Pettersson signing that.”
Nizzar: “That’s $78 million over eight years, $9.75 (million per).
And the timeline J.T. signed his deal, early September.”
Shah: “Yep.”
Nizzar: “So, we’re still a couple of weeks from that reality of where we are in the calendar, but that’s essentially where we’re looking at. From now till second week of September, will there be some movement?
I still look at this and, I can understand the argument for the Aho total money range. The thing is, I imagine the Pettersson camp is going to be looking at cap hit percentage more so than total money here. And you go through it and say, hey, Malkin signed a 14.7 cap hit percentage. Crosby signed a 16.7. McDavid signed that much as well. MacKinnon signed at 15.2.
Not that he’s at that range but if you can slide in there somewhere slightly below that. Aho’s sitting at 11 and change. Does it reside around 13 percent. You go to where the cap is for next season, where we project a…”
Shah: “$87.5 or $88 million cap potentially.
Nizzar: “Let’s kind of downplay, say $87 (million) for next year. If you were to say 13 percent of that, that’s going to be looking a pretty reasonable number at about $11 (million), just over $11 (million).
Shah: “Yeah, and I think that’s kind of the number. The question I think more than anything is the term on the contract, right?
I think, let’s say, let’s say that if Pettersson is willing to go seven, eight years or eight years, then the numbers going to have to be $10-$11 million per season, right? And I think the Canucks would do that.
Let’s say Pettersson wants a three or four year contract. I don’t see Vancouver getting to $10 million or you’re signing three or four years.
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“The Aho one is probably where Vancouver is looking at right now… I don’t think Pettersson is willing to do that.”
? @SatiarShah & @BikNizzar talk about where negotiations are at between the Canucks and Elias Pettersson.
— Sportsnet 650 (@Sportsnet650) August 9, 2023