5 Landing Spots for Elias Pettersson Amid NHL Trade Deadline Rumors

Things are looking grim for the Vancouver Canucks.

They've lost 11 straight games and are one of the few teams in the NHL truly out of the playoff picture already, going hard into rebuild mode. If they're going to do that, Elias Pettersson may be the next big name heading out of town.

The Canucks already traded Quinn Hughes to Minnesota and just moved Kiefer Sherwood to San Jose, so the idea of moving Pettersson is not outlandish.

Vancouver president of hockey operations Jim Rutherford says the club is open to talking about anyone, and Pettersson is more than just anyone.

It's not the first time we've gone down the road of a potential trade for the Swedish star. Last season, amid the unrest between Pettersson and J.T. Miller, it seemed almost imminent that he would be moved, though he wasn't in the end.

Where could Pettersson go? It'll be up to him to decide, given he has a no-move clause and a contract with an $11.6 million cap hit that runs through 2031-2032, so it wouldn't be easy.

Let's take a look at a few teams that have popped up in discussion already, or make sense to join the chase for the forward.

Detroit Red Wings

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There's a long history of great Swedish players in Detroit, and if Elias Pettersson were to add his name to the list, that wouldn't be too big of a surprise.

Pettersson's name was connected to the Red Wings recently when Frank Seravalli of Sportsnet mentioned them to Canucks Central as a team with interest in the forward.

The Red Wings have room under the salary cap to accommodate his $11.6 million cap hit without the Canucks retaining any of it, and he would instantly have a place at the top of their lineup as long as they'd be willing to part with the young players needed to make it happen.

While the Wings have Dylan Larkin holding it down at center, behind him in the depth chart is where things get a little muddy.

Young forward Marco Kasper has a lot of potential and could be their No. 2 guy for the future, but the Wings want to end their nine-year playoff drought and become Stanley Cup contenders once again.

GM Steve Yzerman is under a ton of pressure, and adding a star such as Pettersson would be one way for them to land a big fish at long last.

Philadelphia Flyers

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Elias Pettersson and Bobby Brink

With Rick Tocchet in charge of the Flyers and Philadelphia heavily into the playoff race in the East, you wonder if they're a team that would look to make a big splash towards bettering their odds of getting to the postseason by going after Pettersson.

The Flyers have had a hard go of things recently and are 3-6-1 in their last 10 games, but after beating Vegas on Monday, they were able to snap out of six-game winless streak.

Philly needs help, and its offense could use a jolt. Adding Pettersson to lead the way up front would be a massive move for GM Daniel Brière and would run counter to the methodical rebuild he's undertaken there.

Under Brière, the Flyers have resisted making big splashes when the opportunities have been there. That changed over the summer when he acquired Trevor Zegras from Anaheim and that move has worked spectacularly well.

Given Pettersson's track record and history with Tocchet, maybe lightning could strike again for the Flyers.

Utah Mammoth

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Mammoth GM Bill Armstrong has no problems with being bold. He did it for Utah when they acquired Mikhail Sergachev at the NHL draft two years ago and again last year when he brought in JJ Peterka from Buffalo.

Adding Pettersson would be his biggest move to date.

The Mammoth have an exciting team with young stars like Peterka, Logan Cooley, Dylan Guenther, and are led by Clayton Keller. Something else they have going for them is salary flexibility and the need for better offense up the middle.

While Cooley is still out injured, they're still lacking the kind of creative depth at center they'll need to be true contenders in the West. Adding Pettersson, a veteran scoring center, to their young core would be a massive play on their part to address an apparent weakness.

Utah has plenty of player assets to work with to make any deal happen, not to mention picks, and even though the idea of trading a star player like Pettersson within the conference might seem like a bad idea for Vancouver, they've already done that with Hughes and Sherwood.

Carolina Hurricanes

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Elias Pettersson and Jordan Staal

When Pettersson and Miller were at odds a year ago in Vancouver, one of the teams that stepped to the forefront interested in the former was the Carolina Hurricanes. Could they circle back again?

Carolina is reportedly looking to move Jesperi Kotkaniemi, and while the Hurricanes are at the top of the Metropolitan Division and Eastern Conference and not really in need, they're never really out of any conversations under GM Eric Tulsky.

Moving Kotkaniemi in a trade will free up $4.82 million in cap space, but the Hurricanes are already well under the salary cap by more than $18 million. That makes it easier for them to manage Pettersson's $11.6 million cap hit and would give them another star center to go along with Sebastian Aho.

Whether the Hurricanes still have interest in Pettersson is a question, but there would be room for a fit there. However, things are going really well in Raleigh, and rocking the boat with a major trade may not be the best thing for the team.

Pittsburgh Penguins

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This is more speculative, but putting Pettersson and the Pittsburgh Penguins together makes some sense on paper, if not now, but in the future.

The Penguins are having a superb season, and with star players Sidney Crosby and Evgeni Malkin not getting any younger, there's room for a player like Pettersson to move in seamlessly to play alongside Crosby and keep things going for the postseason.

The cost for Pettersson, salary-wise, is obviously high, as would be the cost to acquire him. But the Canucks and Penguins have made deals recently, and with Jim Rutherford more or less running the show in Vancouver and his history with the Penguins, that's more than enough familiarity to grease the wheels.

A major issue for the Penguins would be GM Kyle Dubas' willingness to move picks and/or young players to acquire a player like Pettersson. He's done well to recoup what previous regimes gave away to keep things afloat in Pittsburgh, but giving up a lot for a star player would be dicey for the semi-rebuild underway there.