It’s officially the NHL offseason. The dust has settled on free agency, but we still absolutely have some interesting storylines to follow. There are the offer sheets, particularly Philadelphia’s mega-offer sheet to Anaheim Ducks centre Leo Carlsson and whether or not the Ducks will match it this week, or take the draft picks and lose Carlsson to the Flyers.

For the Vancouver Canucks, there have been plenty of rumours that the club is certainly open to moving on from veteran forwards Jake DeBrusk and Elias Pettersson. Nothing happened during free agency week, but the NHL news cycle isn’t expected to slow down all that much in what’s going to be a shorter offseason than most with the new 84-game schedule taking effect next year. On this Monday morning, we’ve got one piece of news and one rumour worth Canucks fans’ attention.

Former Canucks defenceman Christian Wolanin is heading to the team that his dad, Craig, won a Stanley Cup with. Over the weekend, Wolanin signed a contract with the Colorado Avalanche. According to PuckPedia, the contract is a one-year two way deal with a cap hit of $850,000 and a minors salary of $400,000.

Wolanin went unsigned in free agency last summer after his two-year deal with the Canucks expired. Eventually, he signed an AHL contract with the Providence Bruins, tallying 31 points in 53 games this past season.

Wolanin spent three seasons with the Abbotsford Canucks, winning the AHL’s defenceman of the year award in 2022-23, and helping them win a Calder Cup Championship in 2024-25. Wolanin played in just 16 NHL games during his time with the Canucks, all of which came during the 2022-23 season.

Sportsnet’s Elliotte Friedman said the following on the latest episode of 32 Thoughts – The Podcast when talking about the Pittsburgh Penguins and their potential desire to add a centre:

“Here’s another one I’ve wondered about, and that is Pettersson. Elias Pettersson from the Canucks. And remember, he has control but… look, he’s got to play better, and that $11.6 [cap hit], everyone’s been talking about that, I know. But again, the ground has shifted here, in a huge way [with NHL salaries]. I’ve sat there and I said, where could he go that could be good for him? I don’t know, I wonder if the Penguins with Crosby and Malkin might be good for him,” Friedman said before saying he believes a change of scenery for Pettersson “has to happen.”

Later in the episode, Friedman added more on Pettersson:

“We talked about Pettersson, I think he’s got, he’s got six more years. Does what happened with the salaries change the conversation for him? We talked about Pittsburgh earlier. He has to agree to this, but I think we all feel he needs a change of scenery. And I just think these kinds of things will happen with time, that more of the players who have long term [contracts], they’ll be available. And when [Canucks GM Ryan] Johnson gets what he wants and they agree to it, because all of them have some degree of protection, they’ll move on. Like, you still need some veterans to play with your kids, to shield them, to help them. But I, I think we can see what’s happening in Vancouver. I don’t think they have any specific plans for here on in, but they will do things to help not jeopardize the rebuild.”

Further, this tweet from JFresh Hockey is worth noting, mostly because of the reply from The Athletic‘s Josh Yohe, who is very plugged in in Pittsburgh:

What do you think, Canucks fans? Do you think the Penguins could be a fit for Elias Pettersson? Let us know in the comments section below!

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