Strange delay in Hughes and Petterson’s signings get Canucks fans worried

Fans in Vancouver blew a sigh of relief on Thursday night when many insiders reported that both restricted free agents forward Elias Pettersson and defenseman Quinn Hughes had agreed to contracts with the Canucks. 

Last night, it was mentioned that Hughes has signed a six year deal worth $7.75 million per season, while Petterson had inked a three year deal worth $7.7 million.

However, nothing official was said by the Canucks themselves and on Friday, insiders started to report that no announcements on the aforementioned deals would be made today by the team. 

This, of course, got fans going and worried about the idea that either Hughes or Pettersson, or both players, hit a snag and now the offers were off the table. 

Canucks insider Satiar Shah mentioned that it is not the case for Hughes, as the six-year contract is still in place, though he does not explain why the team is taking so long to make the announcements public. As for Pettersson, chatter has been heard that the AAV has come up... but no details...

There were reports that Hughes was seeking a comparable deal to the six year contract given to Colorado Avalanche blue liner who earns $9 million per season. As for Pettersson, he had been compared to Kirill Kaprizov in negotiations. Kaprizov recently signed a five year deal worth $9 million per season, as well. While we can argue over Hughes vs Makar and Pettersson vs Kaprizov, the fact that Canucks GM Jim Benning was able to get his two star players for under market is very good news for the team.

But again, we must wait confirmation… and apparently it won’t come today.