Same day analysis: Pettersson and Hughes deals will be steals for Canucks
Vancouver undoubtedly would have loved to get Pettersson under contract for longer, but it has its two best players in the fold for at least the next three years...and just in time
There are a good number of days where it’s a little difficult to make sense of what GM Jim Benning is doing with the Vancouver Canucks. Today is definitely not one of those days. When you get your two best young players under contract in multi-year deals, it’s a good day. When it’s in Vancouver, it’s a really good day. Even with both Elias Pettersson and Quinn Hughes in the lineup, the Canucks will still struggle to make the playoffs. Without them, they’d likely struggle to make the playoffs in the American Hockey League.
In a perfect world, the Canucks would have tied Pettersson up for more than just three years. In a perfect world, they would not have given him the richest bridge deal in NHL history. (A mark that could be broken in rather quick order by Brady Tkachuk and the Ottawa Senators, the next domino to fall before the regular season opens in two weeks.) But in getting both players under contract and in camp with some appreciable time to get up to speed, the Canucks did both themselves and the players involved a very big solid.
Pettersson and Hughes can already both be considered star players. Star players with some work to do still on their overall games, but star players nonetheless. However, regardless of how good a young player is in comparison to his peers, there are few things that can derail development and throw the player into an extended funk than a long contract dispute that drags into the season. We’ve seen it numerous times and it happens almost always, like clockwork. (And while we’re on the subject, these were not holdouts. Both players were restricted free agents without and had no contractual obligation to be in camp. They were fully within their rights to withhold their services until they got deals that were suitable to them.)
According to reports, Hughes has agreed to a six-year deal with an average annual value of $7.75 million and Pettersson will be compensated annually to the tune of $7.35 million on a three-year deal. In a sense, both contracts should be considered major victories for the Canucks, since both players were seeking higher salaries. For Benning to get both players under contract for under $8 million has to be considered a coup. For the next three seasons, the Canucks will have both players under contract for numbers that could very well be considered steals, depending on their production. That will almost certainly be the case for Hughes, who is developing into one of the league’s elite offensive defenders. If and when he gets his play in his own end straightened out, he’ll be considered a superstar. On the other hand, the Canucks have to be disappointed they couldn’t get Pettersson under contract for a longer period of time. He’ll be 25 when this deal expires and, even though he won’t have arbitration rights after the 2023-24 season, he could put himself in position for a mammoth payday. Even though Pettersson was limited to just 23 games with a wrist injury last season, there is nothing to suggest by his production and talent level that he won’t rebound and return to elite status in the NHL.
But for the next three seasons, the Canucks will not have to worry at all about the satisfaction level and security level of their two best players. And that makes this a good day.