VANCOUVER, British Columbia (AP) — Four-time All-Star Elias Pettersson agreed to an eight-year contract extension with the Vancouver Canucks, the team announced Saturday.
Terms of the deal, which kicks in next season, were not disclosed.
“I’m super excited, this is where I wanted to be,” Pettersson said at a news conference.
The star center referenced the impact president of hockey operations Jim Rutherford and general manager Patrik Allvin have had in helping assure him his future is in Vancouver.
“I always wanted to play for a good team and I wanted to see where this team was heading and ever since Jim and Patrik have come in, obviously getting to know them and seeing the direction we’re going in as an organization, I’ve liked everything I’ve seen,” he said.
The 25-year-old Swede has 29 goals and 46 assists in 62 games this season, good for second on the team in points behind J.T. Miller.
“It was an exciting time when Elias hinted he wanted to stay here," Allvin said. "There was never any doubt that he never wanted to stay here, from my view of it, I think it was more about the trust and vision he wanted to see here.”
Selected fifth by the Canucks in the 2017 NHL draft, Pettersson has 165 goals and 233 assists over 387 career games.
Pettersson won the Calder Trophy as rookie of the year in 2018-19 after leading all first-year players in scoring with 66 points (28 goals, 38 assists).
After injuring his wrist during the 2021-22 season, Pettersson came on strong in 2022-23 with his first 100-point season, producing 39 goals and 63 assists in 80 games.
His current contract has a cap hit of $7.35 million and expires after this season.
Allvin said signing Pettersson helps provide clarity on Vancouver’s salary-cap situation heading into next week’s trade deadline and also locks down a core player.
The Canucks were leading the Western Conference on Saturday with 83 points.
___
AP NHL: https://apnews.com/hub/nhl
