Penguins Eye Canucks’ $11.6 Million Center As Trade Target originally appeared on SportsNet Pittsburgh.
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The Pittsburgh Penguins appear ready to take a big swing this offseason.
They just need to find a deal, and a trade partner, that makes sense.
For much of the rumors so far, the target has been Jason Robertson. He’s the Dallas Stars forward coming off a season with 45 goals and 51 assists.
The Stars, though, seem to stubbornly want to keep Robertson even though they pretty much don’t have the cap space to do it.
But with that in mind, the Penguins have apparently pivoted.
They now have at least some eyes on Elias Pettersson of the Vancouver Canucks.
Local radio station 93.7 The Fan has linked these partners together, and they suggest that the hold-up at the moment is Ben Kindel.
Our great Penguins analyst Tyler Kennedy is hearing the Penguins have shifted their attention to trying to acquire Elias Pettersson from Vancouver.
Kennedy says Vancouver wants Ben Kindel. And that’s made the trade hard to make.
Pettersson is a center coming off a 51 point… pic.twitter.com/nC74jb3FE5
— Andrew Fillipponi (@ThePoniExpress) July 8, 2026
The problem, as Fillipponi explains above, is that Pettersson is incredibly pricy.
He’s due $11.6 million per year for each of the next six seasons. It might’ve been a reasonable contract when he signed it, but his game has regressed.
Pettersson has to pick up his scoring numbers to be worth those dollars, or else the Canucks are going to have to retain a bunch of salary to actually move him.
It makes sense that Robertson would be the Penguins’ preference over Pettersson, but still having cap space to use, Pittsburgh could pivot, and Pettersson may be the second option on the table.
