Few players have been the focus of more rumors over the past couple years than Vancouver Canucks superstar Elias Pettersson, and the speculation figures to intensify once again ahead of the 2026 NHL trade deadline as the 'Nucks occupy last place in the standings.
A year ago, the Buffalo Sabres were shopping center Dylan Cozens and there was some thought a swap with Vancouver with Pettersson would make sense. That never materialized, however, and Buffalo ultimately sent Cozens to Ottawa for a package headlined by Josh Norris.
Unfortunately for the Sabres, Norris hasn't been able to shake the injury-prone label as he's sidelined once again. He's made just 19 appearances this season because of a few different ailments, including an upper-body injury suffered in the season opener that cost him nearly two months.
Could Buffalo look to Pettersson as a potential solution? Matt Larkin of Daily Faceoff thinks so, listing the Blue and Gold as one of eight potential landing spots for the 27-year-old Swedish sensation.
"Since they don't yet hold a locked-in playoff position, they're better off chasing players with term rather than rentals," Larkin wrote. "Pettersson would add another high-ceiling player to their top six, and his two-way game would be quite valuable to a Buffalo team that still surrenders too many scoring chances."
He noted the Sabres would have to work some financial magic to fit the remaining six seasons of Pettersson's eight-year, $92.8 million contract under the salary cap, though.
The 2017 fifth overall pick has recorded 33 points (13 goals and 20 assists) across 46 appearances for the Canucks this season. That's a significantly reduced scoring rate from his peak, when he tallied 191 points in 162 games across the 2022-23 and 2023-24 seasons for Vancouver.
Is the Vancouver Canucks' Elias Pettersson worth the trade risk for the Buffalo Sabres?
Buffalo would need to have extreme confidence Pettersson is capable of returning to his previous game-changing level of performance to pull off a monster deal with Vancouver.
First, the Sabres have limited cap flexibility moving forward, so the 6-foot-2 center would likely represent the last substantial addition from outside the organization, at least for a few years. They already have several members of their core locked into long-term contracts.
Second, the Canucks are still going to expect a massive return package despite Pettersson's drop in offensive production over the past couple years.
Larkin suggested the baseline offer from Buffalo would likely need to include at least one highly touted young player, perhaps Konsta Helenius or Jiri Kulich (who's currently sidelined with a blood clot), and a first-round draft pick.
There's always risk associated with trading away cost-controlled rising stars, and that's especially true when an emerging team is going to need some low-salary contributors to remain competitive.
In addition, the Sabres would probably need to move a key player in another trade in order to create the necessary space. Norris is the obvious option, but it's unclear whether other teams would be interested given his injury history. Larkin named defenseman Bowen Byram as another possibility.
Buffalo general manager Jarmo Kekalainen finds himself in a tricky situation. He'd like to upgrade the roster, ideally with a top-six forward who can boost the power play and a depth defenseman, but he won't want to shake things up too much given the team's recent success.
The Sabres have compiled a 20-3-1 record over their past 24 games to climb from the Eastern Conference basement into third place in the Atlantic Division. They are the NHL's hottest team, and winger Alex Tuch declared they're chasing a Stanley Cup.
So, while the Pettersson fit makes sense in a vacuum, the surrounding circumstances make a potential Sabres-Canucks trade highly unlikely.
Kekalainen is likely to focus on less groundbreaking trades. He'll probably try to land a couple rentals, one forward and one blueliner, to bolster the roster without giving up any key members of the current roster. Picks and prospects are the name of the game as a deadline buyer.
The exception would be if the Canucks are willing to take on Norris as part of the deal, which would make the idea a little more clean cut. That said, even in that scenario there would be a lot of things to work out in terms of the rest of the package, so it'd be far from a sure thing.
All told, even if the Sabres don't take a huge swing for Pettersson, the Buffalo fans surely welcome the idea of bringing in big-name talent instead of always trading it away.