Montreal Canadiens' GM Kent Hughes has been known for taking calculated risks here and there, but would he be willing to roll the dice on a big bounce-back candidate that could step in to the second-center line for the Habs?
The trade market for a second-line center isn’t exactly booming right now; the potential candidates are few and far between, and if the Montreal Canadiens want to land a pivot who could really unlock Ivan Demidov’s potential, it won’t be cheap. On Tuesday morning, BPM Sports and RG Media’s Marco D’Amico reported that the Vancouver Canucks are open to retaining some salary to trade Elias Pettersson. Could he be a fit for the Canadiens?
At 27 years old, he fits right in with the Canadiens’ core age group. Captain Nick Suzuki will be 27 himself in October, and both were products of the 2017 draft. Suzuki was taken 13th overall by the Vegas Golden Knights while the Canucks used the fifth overall pick to claim the Swedish center. Pettersson is a left-shot, something the Canadiens do need down the middle, and he’s already proven that he can perform at center in the NHL, unlike Kirby Dach or Alex Newhook when Kent Hughes acquired them.
The pivot signed an eight-year contract with Vancouver back in March 2024, and since then, he’s been struggling. In 2022-23, he put up 102 points in 80 games, then followed up with 89 points in 82 games in 2023-24. After signing his contract, he dropped to 45 points in 64 games in 2024-25 and put up 51 points in 74 games this past season. Those numbers are not worthy of a player who has an $11.6 million cap hit for the next six seasons, and it’s hardly surprising that the Canucks are looking to move him.
Pettersson is a former Calder Trophy winner as the rookie of the year in 2018-19 and is definitely a talented and skillful player, but he has a full no-movement clause and will need to approve any trade. Could he be able to bounce back in Montreal? That remains to be seen. If the Canucks retain part of his salary and he becomes the elite performer he once was, it could be a great deal for the Canadiens. A bit like when the Vegas Golden Knights traded for Jack Eichel with the Buffalo Sabres.
Vancouver doesn’t want to unload Pettersson at any cost, though, and a team that wants him will have to pay handsomely for the privilege. Elliotte Friedman said last month that a team that wants the pivot will have to be ready to send a center back the other way. Who could that mean for the Canadiens? Oliver Kapanen and other pieces? Michael Hage and other pieces? It’s not yet a guarantee that he will become a center in the NHL. Would Vancouver be ready to roll the dice on that?
Sending Brendan Gallagher to the Pacific Division team would make sense, as he has said that he would like to go home, and it could help make money work, but his trade value isn’t great right now.
The Canadiens would really have to do their due diligence on Pettersson to understand what went wrong and whether they feel Montreal could be the right destination for him to bounce back. If he were able to do so for less than his full cap hit, he could be a great fit for the Habs. But it wouldn’t be a risk-free investment. With just three days to go before the draft, all GMs are currently working the phones, and this is just one of the possible avenues the Canadiens could choose to go for. On the plus side, given that he’s a Swede, the Habs wouldn’t have to worry about the current exodus of American players to the USA…
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