Elliotte Friedman Reveals New Frontrunner for Elias Pettersson in Blockbuster Trade
The Vancouver Canucks almost traded Elias Pettersson to Vancouver on Friday, and now we know the team now favoured to land the superstar centre after another potential suitor has been taken off the board.
The Carolina Hurricanes acquired Mikko Rantanen on Friday, but it appears he wasn't their original target, as they were going after Vancouver Canucks superstar Elias Pettersson earlier in the day, with a deal almost coming to fruition.
This came after the revelation that the team were pivoting from a J.T. Miller trade due to insufficient offers, and now they've proven that, as they've been very open to moving Pettersson this season.
Now however, another potential suitor for both players is off the board, but they're not left without interest according to Elliotte Friedman, who notes that there's still interest in both players from Eastern Conference teams.
On his latest Sportsnet apperaance, Friedman notes that the deal for Carolina was around Pettersson, not Miller, and that if there's any team showing the most interest right now, it's the Buffalo Sabres.
Friedman did not say that there was a trade imminent between the two parties, but with the Sabres having young pieces that they could move on from, for them to finally acquire a star centre rather than trade one away could potentially represent a major turning point for the franchise.
Ultimately though, the Canucks are going to have to move one of Pettersson or Miller, and if they aren't getting the offers on their 31-year old star, perhaps a bigger return for Pettersson is the way to go. For now though, all we know is that the interest is there, it's up to Vancouver and a trade partner to get something done, one way or another.
| G | A | PTS | ||
| Gabriel Vilardi | 2 | 2 | 4 | |
| Cale Makar | 2 | 1 | 3 | |
| Kyle Connor | 1 | 2 | 3 | |
| Matthew Boldy | - | 3 | 3 | |
| Nicolas Roy | - | 3 | 3 | |
| Marcus Foligno | 1 | 1 | 2 | |
| Claude Giroux | 1 | 1 | 2 | |
| Brayden McNabb | 1 | 1 | 2 | |
| Artemi Panarin | 1 | 1 | 2 | |
| Mark Scheifele | 1 | 1 | 2 | |
| Vincent Trocheck | 1 | 1 | 2 | |
| Keegan Kolesar | - | 2 | 2 | |
| Nathan MacKinnon | - | 2 | 2 | |
| Martin Necas | - | 2 | 2 | |
| Reilly Smith | - | 2 | 2 | |
| Tim Stutzle | - | 2 | 2 | |
| Mason Appleton | 1 | - | 1 | |
| William Borgen | 1 | - | 1 | |
| Sam Carrick | 1 | - | 1 | |
| Jack Drury | 1 | - | 1 | |
| Complete stats | ||||
| STANDINGS 2024-2025 | ||||||
TOP 10 | GP | W | L | OL | PTS | |
Capitals | 49 | 33 | 11 | 5 | 71 | |
Jets | 50 | 33 | 14 | 3 | 69 | |
Oilers | 49 | 31 | 15 | 3 | 65 | |
Golden Knights | 49 | 30 | 15 | 4 | 64 | |
Hurricanes | 50 | 30 | 16 | 4 | 64 | |
Stars | 49 | 31 | 17 | 1 | 63 | |
Maple Leafs | 50 | 30 | 18 | 2 | 62 | |
Devils | 51 | 28 | 17 | 6 | 62 | |
Panthers | 50 | 29 | 18 | 3 | 61 | |
Wild | 49 | 28 | 17 | 4 | 60 | |
| Conference | Cumulative | ||||||