It was a busy day for the Vancouver Canucks. First, they traded J.T. Miller to the New York Rangers; then they added depth to their roster with Marcus Pettersson and Drew O’Connor. However, the big question now is, will the Canucks still trade Elias Pettersson?
NHL Trade: The Vancouver Canucks Trade J.T. Miller to the New York Rangers
NHL Hockey Insider Elliotte Friedman was on Sportsnet on Friday night breaking down the J.T. Miller trade. He was asked by the host if this meant Elias Pettersson was still on the market. Friedman did not think the Canucks would be willing to trade him now and predicted that Vancouver was not done dealing.
NHLRumors.com Transcriptions
Faizel Khamisa: “All right, so the scenarios in Vancouver were trade one of J.T. Miller and Elias Pettersson. Trade, both, or trade, one. Trade none. One has now been dealt. So, is it your belief that Vancouver will continue to have conversations around Pettersson, or is he now likely to stay through the March trade deadline? What’s the deal kind of going forward there?”
NHL Rumors: The Pittsburgh Penguins Have Some Pieces that Will Draw Interest
Elliotte Friedman: “Faizell, I want to hear what the Canucks say about this first. I think a lot has changed today and there’s a couple of things here. I want to hear what either Jim Rutherford or Patrik Allvin, whoever speaks to the media, says. Number one, I don’t think the Canucks are finished dealing (They made another trade Friday night as well trading for Marcus Pettersson and Drew O’Connor). If you’ll remember a couple years ago when they dealt Bo Horvat, they took the pick they got from it, and they turned it into (Filip) Hronek. And I do think that is something that they will consider here, too, in terms of, do they use the Rangers pick to go out and get another asset (which the Canucks ultimately did).
I also think that in Pettersson’s case I had some people say to me, maybe they let him play a little bit, let him fly. See what it’s like now that Miller’s traded. Do they give him a shot and say, okay, he’ll rediscover his form? And the other thing that happened today Faizel is that the salary cap came in for the next three years, and it’s big. And Pettersson, the thing about him, he’s at $11.6. If he rediscovers his form, that is much more palpable.
Like you always willing to pay great players, but 11.6 seems much less daunting and much less of a problem on, say, a $104 million cap and a $113.5 million dollar cap than it does on an 88 cap or a 95 cap, right? So, like that was the one thing that people said to me today was the ground shifted in the NHL today.
NHL Rumors: Kevin Lankinen, and a Top 30 Trade Watch List
Some of these contracts that look tight, they aren’t that tight, and so I think Pettersson is potentially one of those. I want to hear what the Canucks say because I’m curious. I don’t think they’re done dealing, but I’m curious to see if they’re going to give Pettersson a bit of a runway here.”
NHLRumors.com Note: Friedman was right about one thing in this scenario. The Canucks were not finished dealing. President of Hockey Operations Jim Rutherford and GM Patrik Allvin continued their trend of getting deals done before the deadline. Vancouver acquired defenseman Marcus Pettersson and forward Drew O’Connor for the Rangers’ 2025 first-round pick (conditional), forward Danton Heinen, defenseman Vincent Desharnais, and 2024 third-round pick Melvin Fernstrom.
This is exactly what Vancouver did when they acquired Hronek. They used that pick from the Islanders to get him. Now the Canucks added depth to their defense with Pettersson and depth at the forward position. Vancouver was not winning a J.T. Miller or an Elias Pettersson trade. However, now they have assets similar to what the Winnipeg Jets got for Pierre-Luc Dubois to remain competitive in the Western Conference playoff race.
Have you subscribed to our YouTube channel? It’s new and we’re just getting started. Rumor roundups and hot topics from around the league.
