Could Brad Treliving Save Elias Pettersson's Career in Toronto?

Elias Pettersson has not featured as heavily as he's used to for the Vancouver Canucks this season, who have kept him in someone of a more reduced role than he is used to.

Despite still having strong underlying analytics, Pettersson isn't valued the way he used to be in Vancouver, and it suggests that his future may not be concrete out west.

Seravalli notes that while Pettersson could be on his way out, the value Pettersson currently has may not be enough to sway teams to act.

Frank Seravalli has offered a fresh perspective on the struggles impacting Elias Pettersson, and why a change of scenery for the 26-year-old may be the best outcome.

The problem, as Seravalli describes, is that Pettersson's contract, an eight-year deal at $11.6M, is not one that any team would look to take on or to be able to add, at the very least not right now, leaving the Canucks option if they wish to get rid of Pettersson being a buyout.

Being bought out would be harsh for a young player who only a few years earlier was a PPG player for the Canucks, and this season has dealt with inconsistent ice time, having played the lowest amount of minutes (17:56) of his career under new head coach Adam Foote.

The other problem for the Canucks is that Pettersson has still largely been the team's main producer as a forward alongside Brock Boeser.

Vancouver already got rid of J.T. Miller after a publicly reported dispute between himself and Pettersson.

The challenge for Vancouver is a team that still wants to be able to compete, but is facing the challenge of not knowing what to do with their star forward.

Elias Pettersson could use a restart elsewhere, something that was floated a few years back when the Canucks were going through their feud between their stars, and a team of interest could be Toronto.

Pettersson would undoubtedly be an upgrade on the wing for Toronto, even if he doesn't return to his top form can still be near a PPG player when given the opportunity for ice time.

Toronto, of course, would have to be creative to make such a deal work. The fear for Toronto is that they don't have many high end players outside of their top options, and with Pettersson a player who is proven to have talent.

Vancouver, retaining salary as they would to make a Leafs trade work, would have somewhat of an advantage of the Leafs lack of cap space, and perhaps would make a 1-for-1 involving Matthew Knies a possible scenario, one that keeps the Leafs from having to give up futures, which they don't have.

If Vancouver does retain, say 50%, they could package a deal around Matias Maccelli, Max Domi, and picks/prospects, with Easton Cowan the flashiest option, but a player like Ben Danford also appealing, or Dennis Hildeby as the Canucks could use a goaltender of the future after Thatcher Demko.

A deal for Elias Pettersson comes with a lot of uncertainty, it's hard to imagine Toronto going for it, but it could be the high-risk, high-reward move the team has been desperately looking for.