Just after 10am EST, the Vancouver Canucks announced an 8-year extension for Franchise Center Elias Pettersson. At the time of writing, contract details such as AAV and bonus structure had not been announced by any Canucks sources, so we will defer conversations about that until our podcast on 3/3/2024 (See our Facebook page at 7pm EST or Spotify after 8:30PM EST).

               In Pettersson, the Canucks are extending their most talented offensive performer, and a true super star at that. Per Hockey Prospecting’s models, in EP’s five and a half plus seasons in Vancouver he has never produced below a star-caliber rate. His lowest PPG was 0.81 in 2020-21 which still put him in the top 10% of the league’s scorers. Through his tenure in Vancouver, he’s a superstar production rate in 4 of his 6 seasons, with 2022-23 and 2023-24 being his most impactful seasons to date with PPGs of 1.28 and 1.31 respectively. Also, of note in the last two superstar seasons is that Pettersson’s deployment has become much less sheltered than in his four seasons. Prior to 2022-23, Pettersson averaged a 66% Offensive Zone Start rate, but over the last two years, that number has dwindled down to 54%, indicating that Pettersson’s 200-ft game has improved AND he’s utilizing counterattacks from strong defense to create more scoring. 

               Overall, Pettersson has shown that he is one of the premier franchise players in the league, and the Canucks are in a great position for the next 8 years with him on the roster. Frankly, based on his career output, anything under McDavid’s $12.5M a year deal in Edmonton is an unbelievable value for Vancouver, and even if the contract is at that number, there may not be a player available on the market at this price again over the next 8 years. Next up for Vancouver is seeing if they can finish what they’ve started this year and bring the Stanley Cup home.