Blockbuster trade between the Penguins and Canucks gains steam after latest report
Photo credit: Charles LeClaire-Imagn Images
Vancouver wants Ben Kindel for Elias Pettersson.
Vancouver already traded away the draft capital that would have made that ask reasonable.
Penguins analyst Tyler Kennedy, cited by Andrew Fillipponi of 93.7 The Fan, reported that Pittsburgh has shifted its focus to Elias Pettersson.
Kennedy said the Vancouver Canucks want Kindel coming back.
Kindel is the one young asset in the Pittsburgh Penguins pipeline that Vancouver had nothing to do with.
He was drafted eleventh overall in 2025 with Pittsburgh's own selection.
Where Vancouver's pick actually went
Vancouver did send Pittsburgh a first-round pick in January 2025. It came from the New York Rangers hours earlier in the J.T. Miller trade, a deal shaped by the Miller and Pettersson rift.
Kyle Dubas moved that pick, which landed twelfth overall, to the Philadelphia Flyers.
Philadelphia selected Jack Nesbitt there, and Pittsburgh used the return to draft Bill Zonnon twenty-second.
So Vancouver's fingerprints are on Zonnon, not Kindel. Ryan Johnson is asking the Penguins to return a player his franchise never financed.
Pittsburgh earned Kindel by losing games, not by trading with the Canucks.
The clause nobody is pricing in
There is a larger obstacle than the asking price. Pettersson's full no-movement clause took effect on July 1, 2025, and six years remain at an $11.6 million dollar cap hit.
Penguins insider Josh Yohe has indicated Pettersson himself is the holdup. TSN's Farhan Lalji wrote that location and market size matter to Pettersson and his family, which always favoured West Coast teams.
Elliotte Friedman reported on 32 Thoughts that Pittsburgh once had a Pettersson deal arranged.
Pettersson said no.
He is coming off 51 points in 74 games. Kindel, meanwhile, grew up in Coquitlam, an hour from Rogers Arena.
He scored twice against Vancouver on January 25, 2026.
Vancouver can name any price it likes. Kindel is not the gate on this trade.
Pettersson's signature is.
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This blockbuster trade between the Leafs and Penguins is going to shake up the entire NHL
This blockbuster trade between the Leafs and Penguins is going to shake up the entire NHL