Speculation intensifies on Pettersson's next Canucks contract after Aho signs mega-deal
Will Elias Pettersson become the first-ever Vancouver Canucks player to sign a contract paying him $10 million annually?
It seems possible now, after Sebastian Aho signed a $78 million mega-deal with the Carolina Hurricanes today.
Aho, who has two years more experience than Pettersson but is less than 16 months older than the Canucks star centre, will make $9.75 million per season for eight years, beginning in 2024-25.
Pettersson can sign also a contract extension this summer, which would kick in after his current contract expires in 2024.
“They do want to get together sometime this summer or early fall, at least, in the next few months, to try and talk about the future,” Pettersson’s agent J.P. Barry said on the Got Yer’ Back podcast in May. “We’ve stayed in contact. Elias, he’s thinking about it. I think it’s going to happen. I think we’re going to sit down this summer. We’re going to talk about staying there long term. That is the plan right now.”
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Aho and Pettersson aren’t perfect comparables, as the 24-year-old Canuck is a pending restricted free agent, while Aho was set to become an unrestricted free agent.
But they’re both two-way centres that have put up a ton of points during their young NHL careers.
Aho has higher totals for goals (218), assists (250), and points (468), but has played more games (520). In 325 career games, Pettersson has 136 goals, 187 assists, and 323 points.
In terms of points per game, Pettersson has the lead, with his 0.99 P/GP edging Aho’s 0.90 average.
Canes GM Don Waddell lauded Aho as “one of the best two-way centres in hockey” in today’s press release. Pettersson’s agent could make a similar claim, given his client is coming off a season that saw him finish seventh in Selke Trophy voting. Pettersson’s 102-point season is also 19 points better than Aho’s career year in 2018-19.
The NHL’s salary cap is expected to rise next year, which will surely be taken into account in negotiations. Pettersson is eligible to sign an extension up to eight years in length.
.@AFPAnalytics has Elias Pettersson’s extension projected for 8 years at $82,956,363.60.
That works out to an AAV of $10,369,545.45 which would be 11.85% of $87.5M (projected 24-25 cap).
They had Aho at $9.41M (ended up at $9.75M). #Canucks https://t.co/g3neoEYsqc
— Grady Sas (@GradySas) July 26, 2023
Aho’s contract is currently tied for the 15th-highest cap hit in 2024-25, according to CapFriendly, and only 10 forwards are scheduled to make more than him annually:
- Nathan MacKinnon ($12.6 million)
- Connor McDavid ($12.5 million)
- Artemi Panarin ($11.6 million)
- David Pastrnak ($11.25 million)
- John Tavares ($11 million)
- Mitch Marner ($10.9 million)
- Jonathan Huberdeau ($10.5 million)
- Aleksander Barkov ($10 million)
- Jack Eichel ($10 million)
- Tyler Seguin ($9.85 million)
Another player that qualifies as a Pettersson comparable is Mathew Barzal, whose eight-year contract with the New York Islanders that pays him $9.15 million annually kicks in next season. The Coquitlam native is a year and a half older than Pettersson and has 362 points (105-257-362) in 420 career games, for a points-per-game average of 0.86.
Where will Pettersson fit in?