Hughes, Pettersson each signs contract with Canucks
Defenseman receives six years, $7.85 million annually; center gets three years, $7.35 million per season
Hughes, a 21-year-old defenseman, received a six-year, $47.1 million contract (average annual value $7.85 million). Pettersson, a 22-year-old center, got a three-year, $22 million contract (average annual value $7.35 million). Each was a restricted free agent.
During negotiations, Pettersson and Hughes were skating in Michigan with Ottawa Senators forward
Brady Tkachuk
, a restricted free agent, and Quinn's father, Jim Hughes, a former director of player development for the Toronto Maple Leafs
"I just wanted to get back to the team," Pettersson said. "Both me and Quinn felt like it felt wrong being in Michigan when the team was having training camp and preseason, so we just wanted to get the deal sorted as fast as possible. Maybe it took longer than expected, but both of us are really happy with our deals and can't wait to get started."
Neither the defenseman nor center was at Canucks training camp, which began Sept. 23. Vancouver coach Travis Green said he hopes Pettersson and Hughes will play Vancouver's final two preseason games, at the Edmonton Oilers on Thursday and home against Edmonton on Saturday.
"The talks really ramped up here this last week when we started camp and they weren't here and we got to an agreement, so I'm happy," Canucks general manager Jim Benning said. "They are two important guys in our group, they're still young players, they still can get better, so we're happy to get them signed and get them in camp."
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The Canucks begin the regular season Oct. 13 at the Oilers. Benning said the expectation is to qualify for the Stanley Cup Playoffs after they were 23-29-4 last season, last in the seven-team Scotia North Division.
"If we don't make the playoffs it will be a disappointment," Benning said. "I think our younger players now, they've gotten older, they've been in the League now two, three, four years. It's time for them to step up. We've seen some guys step up of our younger group last year and they got to continue to get better, but our goal this year is to be a playoff team."
Pettersson was eligible to receive an offer sheet from another NHL team. Hughes was not.
Hughes scored 41 points (three goals, 38 assists) in 56 games last season. He led NHL rookies in scoring in 2019-20 with 53 points (eight goals, 45 assists) and 25 power-play points in 68 games and was runner-up for the Calder Trophy to Colorado Avalanche defenseman Cale Makar in voting for NHL rookie of the year.
Selected by Vancouver with the No. 7 pick in the 2018 NHL Draft, Hughes has scored 97 points (11 goals, 86 assists) in 129 regular-season games.
"I think that this is probably the best roster we've had in my three years here," Hughes said. "I wanted to be here so me and 'Petey' can get here and get our feet wet and we can go off and have a good start to the season."
Pettersson scored 21 points (10 goals, 11 assists) in 26 games last season; he did not play after March 2 because of a wrist injury. He scored 66 points in each of his first two NHL seasons, including 28 goals and 38 assists in 71 games in 2018-19 when he won the Calder Trophy. The No. 5 pick in the the 2017 NHL Draft has scored 153 points (65 goals, 88 assists) in 165 regular-season games.
"We weren't happy with the way it went last year," Pettersson said. "We know that we got to set high standards, always want to win, so just get that going right away and hopefully start on a good note."
NHL.com independent correspondent Kevin Woodley contributed to this report
