Elias Pettersson reportedly demands a fortune to stay in Vancouver

Ever since the 2023-24 season got underway, there has been lot of special about star forward Elias Pettersson and his next contract with the Vancouver Canucks. There are many questions about Pettersson’s desire to stay in Vancouver and what it would cost the Canucks to keep the pending restricted free agent.

The Canucks have publicly stated more than once that they will do everything in their power to keep Pettersson in Vancouver, but it sounds like they will have to reach deep into their pockets to do so.

According to team insider Rick Dhaliwal of The Athletic, Canucks’ management is looking at Boston Bruins’ David Pastrnak’s deal as a comparable in negotiations. You may recall that Pastrnak inked an eight-year contract back in March worth a total of $90 million, an average of $11.25 million per season.

The issue is that Pettersson is believed to be asking for more.

His specific demands aren’t known and for the moment remain under the radar, but it is believed that Pettersson is hoping to be closer to what was offered to Colorado Avalanche’s Nathan MacKinnon, who became the highest paid player in the entire league with an average salary cap of $12.6 million!

Earlier this month, it was confirmed that by commissioner Gary Bettman that the NHL is projecting the salary cap to rise to $87.7 million for next season. The cap, which is expected to rise $4.2 million, has not increased more than $4 million season-over-season since it went up $4.5 million from $75 million in 2017-18 to $79.5 million in 2018-19.

This means the Canucks will have more to play with, and therefore, could have no other choice than to satisfy the demands of his best forward to keep him in Vancouver for the foreseeable future.

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