Elias Pettersson is reportedly seeking a deal “five years and under” with the Canucks

Jim Benning has a huge off-season ahead of him.

The Vancouver Canucks dealt with a nightmare season in 2021. After coming within one win from reaching the Western Conference Final in 2020, the Canucks fell flat, finishing 2021 with a putrid 23-29-4 record.

This summer, Benning will need to figure out new deals for two of his franchise cornerstones — @Quinn Hughes and @Elias Pettersson.

According to CHEK’s Rick Dhaliwal, agent JP Barry, who represents both players, Pettersson is seeking a deal five years or shorter while Hughes is looking for a long-term deal.

Pettersson was limited to just 26 games in 2021 due to injury. Through 165 games in his NHL career, the former No. 5 overall pick has scored 65 goals and 153 points. Pettersson also won the Calder Trophy for the league’s top rookie back in 2019.

Pettersson taking a five-year deal would be along the same line as the extension Auston Matthews signed back in 2019 before his entry-level deal came to an end. Matthews is paid $11,640,000 annually for five seasons. His contract with the Maple Leafs only eats one unrestricted free agency year and he’ll be eligible to hit the open market after the 2023-24 season.

For Hughes, the comparison his camp would be using is Ottawa’s Thomas Chabot, who signed an eight-year deal worth $8,000,000 annually right before the start of the 2019-20 season. Hughes has 97 points through his first 129 NHL games and finished second in Calder Trophy voting in 2020. Chabot had 80 points through his first 134 games before signing that deal.

Again, this won’t be an easy summer for Benning. The Canucks have $15 million in cap room and these two contracts will chew up virtually all of that money. Benning will need to try to unload some problematic contracts if he’s going to improve the team this off-season.