Agent: Pettersson doesn't want contract status to distract Canucks' great season
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With Toronto Maple Leafs forward William Nylander signed to a long-term contract on Monday, could countryman and pending restricted free agent Elias Pettersson be the next one up for a new deal with the Vancouver Canucks?
Pettersson's agent, J.P. Barry, says that process has begun, but added that it's up to his client to determine how engaged they want to be in contract negotiations while the team is in the midst of an impressive regular season.
“It’s started – we have more to do,” Barry told Ray Ferraro and TSN Hockey Insider Darren Dreger on The Ray & Dregs Podcast on Tuesday.
“This guy really wanted to focus on playing. He’s not an unrestricted free agent like Nylander was, or like [Barry’s client David] Pastrnak was. There is another year there [before UFA status].
“I know people in Vancouver don’t want to hear that. He could feasibly do a one-year contract or do an arbitration case for one year – and no one wants that. We are being patient, there’s no doubt.
"People have pointed out, ‘Are we’re being over-patient?’ We’re getting to the point now where we’ll have to sit down. I think he’s had a great season; I think he’s done everything that he wanted. But he wants this team to win too, so he doesn’t like the distraction. We have to balance whether or not we think 'engaging' is a distraction or not, and a lot of that comes down to what the client wants. Could this all be done now quietly, or can we wait and do all of it in May and June? So we have to talk about it.”
Pettersson, 25, has 19 goals and 52 points in 40 games so far for the Canucks this season. A first-round pick by Vancouver in 2017, the Swedish centre has 155 goals and 375 points in 265 career games.
Pettersson, who becomes a restricted free agent this summer with arbitration rights, is in the final year of a three-year contract that pays him $7.35 million per season.
The Canucks are currently tied for second in the NHL’s overall standings with 55 points and a 26-11-3 record, and are in first place in the Pacific Division.