As the Vancouver Canucks continue to consider trading off veterans in their so-called hybrid rebuild, and as everyone else speculates about those considerations, there is one name that has been largely absent from the discussions, despite being a somewhat logical candidate for a deal. That player is Marcus Pettersson.

On the surface, that makes some sense. When the team acquired the now-29-year-old Pettersson from Pittsburgh last January, they signed him to a six-year, $5.5 million AAV extension. At that point, Pettersson was clearly a part of the long-term plan in Vancouver.

But here now, a full calendar year later, that long-term plan sure appears to have changed. And one can’t help but wonder whether Pettersson fits into that plan better as a veteran support piece or as a re-cashed trade-chip.

As far as Canucks management and their outward statements are concerned, the current goal seesm to be for them to hang on to all three of their veteran defenders in Pettersson, Filip Hronek, and Tyler Myers. The thinking there is that the veteran trio lines up very well with the unseasoned trio of Tom Willander, Zeev Buium, and Elias Pettersson, and that maintaining the veterans will aid in the development of the youngsters. On that front, the senior Pettersson makes perhaps the most sense to hold onto. Hronek and Myers both play the right side, so if one of them were to theoretically be moved, at least the other would remain. Pettersson, however, is the only vet on the left-side, aside from P-O Joseph and Derek Forbort, who may not return from injury this season.

Trade Pettersson now, and the Canucks would be left with a very raw and inexperienced left side of just Buium, E. Pettersson, and Joseph, and that’s a very dramatic swing for a team that started the season with Quinn Hughes over there.

Then again: who cares? We don’t need ICBC to tell us that the 2025-26 season is a write-off. The Canucks are in second-to-last place, they show no real signs of rebounding from there, and the situation will only presumably get worse as sell-off trades occur over the next two months.

With Pettersson under contract for five more years after this one, the 2025-26 season is not the only consideration here. But the 2026-27 season is not one to pin any hopes on either, and past that point, one has to question the whole ‘mentorship’ angle. Buium and E. Pettersson will be that much older and more experienced by then, and there’s nothing stopping the team from picking up another support vet in the interim, or from developing someone else from within, like Kirill Kudryavtsev.

Suffice it to say that the period of time during which this Pettersson extension was meant to make the biggest difference now neatly aligns with the period of time during which the Canucks are expected to lose, and a lot. That should mean that the team is at least open to exploring Pettersson’s trade value moving forward, as in trying to determine whether he’s worth more to them as a roster player or a trade-chip that has been exchanged for some future assets.

And if they’re considering that, the real question to be asked is whether or not Pettersson could still, at the very least, return what the Canucks paid for him. Is there a refund available here, or are they going to relegated to the equivalent of ‘store credit’?

When Pettersson was acquired by the Canucks, he came along with Drew O’Connor and cost the Canucks a conditional first round pick – previous acquired from the New York Rangers in the JT Miller deal – and prospect Melvin Fernstrom. Part of the valuation, however, included the dumping of Danton Heinen and Vincent Desharnais’ contracts.

It’s not exactly true, but close enough to say that Pettersson cost the Canucks roughly a first rounder. That first rounder was eventually flipped once again to the Philadelphia Flyers, but ended up being used at 12^th overall in the most recent draft on prospect Jack Nesbitt.

What we’re really asking then, is if Pettersson could still return a first in his current state.

When Pettersson arrived in Vancouver, he was pitched as a guaranteed-top-four, borderline-top-pairing defender, and through his 31 games with the Canucks to close the 2024-25 season, he played at about that level. Most folks were pleased with Pettersson’s play in general, and the value the Canucks seemed to achieve in locking him up to a reasonable extension early.

It has to be said, however, that Pettersson’s stock has dropped in 2025-26. Offensively, he’s averaged about 30 points a season in his NHL career, but currently has just nine in 43 games, and is thus pacing for fewer than 20. He’s been outscored 23-30 at five-on-five play. His Corsi is at just 45.2%.

Now, any struggles in Vancouver this year have to be at least partially related to the team’s overall struggles. And Pettersson is still carrying his fair share of the load with an average of 20:58 a night. But if he’s not the problem himself, then he hasn’t been much a part of the solution.

Still, one bad season does not erase a decade of top-four play. And that extension, while not as shiny as it first appeared, still rings through as having surplus value. It was signed, after all, before the salary cap leapt up this past offseason, and before it leaps up again next offseason. A $5.5 million cap hit has quickly made the trip all the way to about average for a top-four defender, and will be below-average soon enough. What that means is that all Pettersson has to do is maintain his status as a top-four throughout the next five years for this contract to have fair value. Anything better than that is gravy.

And this becomes especially true when the teams who might consider trading for Pettersson consider their options. There are never all that many quality defenders available in any given trade market, and moving forward, to acquire a player of Pettersson’s ilk through free agency is definitely going to cost a team more than $5.5 million per year.

Put that together with some of Pettersson’s more specific skills, like penalty killing, leadership, and throwing the occasional devastating hit, and one has to imagine that, if the Canucks were offering him around, there would be some interesting suitors.

To return the equivalent of the 12^th overall pick may still be a bridge too far at this point. That’s a very valuable asset. But what if the Canucks are looking for just a first round pick, in general? That seems a lot more doable. And that would probably still feel like the Canucks getting their worth from the whole series of transactions.

But would it be worth their while? Probably! First round picks are gold to even a hybrid-rebuilding team, and they remain lottery picks. Any mid-to-late first, like the one the Canucks are currently holding from the Minnesota Wild, has a chance to be an impact player, but they also have a decent chance of busting. Having multiple mid-to-late firsts, however, increases the odds of at least one of them hitting. And the Canucks need some hits more than anything right now.

Pettersson’s own potential as a mentor, as a stabilizer, and perhaps even as someone who can continue to play meaningful minutes toward the end of his contracts as the Canucks become more competitive cannot be discounted. But those are qualities that don’t necessarily need to come from Pettersson, and especially not if he can be cashed in for something the Canucks need right now.

We mentioned Forbort already. The Canucks got a very good year out of Forbort in 2024-25. He became a star penalty killer, played nearly every night, and earned himself a raise – and last year, he did it all for the low, low price of a $1.5 million cap hit.

There’s nothing really stopping the Canucks from trading Pettersson now and then seeking out some lower-cost veterans via free agency to cover any further desire for experience and leadership on their blueline. It might be a ‘have your cake and eat it, too’ scenario, and that makes it sound like something well worth exploring.

After all, who doesn’t like cake?