Kings' Elias Pettersson trade update puts his viral LA workout clips in a new light
Photo credit: IMAGN IMAGES via Reuters Connect
New reporting confirms the Kings reached out to Vancouver about Elias Pettersson, adding real weight to those gym clips everyone was arguing about online.
For weeks, hockey fans kept passing around the same grainy footage.
Pettersson, skating on a rink in Los Angeles, looking a little rusty, a little worn down from a rough season.
Some people brushed it off. His wife is from LA, so of course he trains there in the summer.
Nothing to see, right? Except now there is something to see.
A new report says the Kings actually picked up the phone and called Vancouver about him.
No formal offer has landed on the table. No trade is close to happening.
But the call itself changes the conversation completely, because it means those summer skates were not just a guy staying in shape near home.
Why LA makes sense on paper
The Kings have a real hole down the middle after losing production at center, and they need someone who can drive a top line.
Pettersson, even after a down year, still has that 102 point season sitting on his resume.
When healthy and confident, he is exactly the kind of player a contender builds around.
That upside is hard to ignore, even for a front office being cautious.
The number that keeps getting in the way
His cap hit is the real obstacle. At 11.6 million a year for several more seasons, moving him requires a partner willing to take on serious money for a player coming off a quiet year.
Vancouver also is not interested in just dumping him for less than his ceiling suggests he is worth.
So for now this stays a phone call, not a trade.
But it is a phone call worth watching.
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