Last season, the Carolina Hurricanes were heavily involved in trade talks with the Vancouver Canucks surrounding center Elias Pettersson.
“According to multiple sources, the Vancouver Canucks and Carolina Hurricanes had discussions about Elias Pettersson that moved to a stage where both the Canucks and the player had to make serious decisions about where their relationship was going,” Sportsnet insider Elliotte Friedman said in February. . “The Canucks ultimately decided on another attempt to extend Pettersson and, faced with the possibility that Vancouver could move him, allowed agents Pat Brisson and JP Barry to resume negotiations.”
The Swede was a rising RFA and a potential holdout was a major concern for the Canucks, so they entered into discussions with the Hurricanes about what a potential trade package would look like.
According to Thomas Drance and Rick Daliwhal of The Athletic, Carolina’s offer was serious.
“Worse than people realize.”
According to them, the offer was built around a few marquee players, a first-round pick and an additional high-end prospect.
So whether it was just a negotiating tactic to get Pettersson signed early or not (he signed an eight-year, $92.8 million contract not long after), you don’t get that deep into the discussions without seriously considering signing that player to move house.
Related: Martin Necas named November’s first star of the month
Now Pettersson could potentially be on the trade block again.
According to new reports from Friedman, the rift between Vancouver’s top forwards Pettersson and JT Miller has grown exponentially to the point where it’s starting to bleed into the room and it’s also taking a toll on the organization, from players to coaching staff and even that of the hockey department.
“The Canucks thought it was solved last year,” Friedman said. “The team had a great year, the two players had a great year and they thought they were over this. Obviously that wasn’t the case.”
It’s gotten so bad that even Canucks captain Quinn Hughes and coach Rick Tocchet talked about the rift.
“100%, I believe it is workable,” Hughes said. “I know it’s workable. We saw it last year. I think they’ve both gone through their own struggles this year. I believe in them both. I think they’re great players, great people.”
“It happens all the time,” Tocchet said. “You don’t have to play PlayStation together. You don’t have to go out to dinner. But when it’s your turn to go to the net, go to the net. That’s what it really comes down to.”
At the end of the day, you simply can’t have a locker room with such a big division and it looks like Vancouver will eventually have to do something about that.
So why doesn’t Carolina come back and see what the prize could be?
Related: Jesperi Kotkaniemi back at 2C, can he make the most of opportunities?
The Canes need an established top-six center, and Pettersson could even be placed above franchise cornerstone Sebastian Aho.
The two hurdles for them would be A) moving the cap space needed to acquire the talented Swede and B) coming up with the necessary pieces for what will almost certainly be a steep asking price.
Pettersson has a cap hit of $11.6 million and the Canes only have about $2 million in cap space. The team would really have to work to make room, but Pettersson’s cost would certainly help with that.
The young players the Hurricanes offered in February were rumored to be Martin Necas ($6.5 million AAV) and Jesperi Kotkaniemi ($4.82 million AAV).
The two would certainly raise the necessary funds, but would it be enough?
Necas is off to a great start to the year with 44 points in 32 games this season and Kotkaniemi has 15 points in 32 games.
The Canes may be less willing to move Necas now, given that he is breaking out and looking like a bona fide star, but it appears Kotkaniemi is on a very short leash in Carolina and both sides would likely welcome a change.
Another potential name could be Andrei Svechnikov, who has 12 goals and 25 points this year.
Svechnikov ($7.75 million AAV) is an attractive player who combines a big, physical frame with a ferocious attacking drive, but he hasn’t been able to put all the tools together in his young career.
However, due to the rarity of true power forwards in the league today and Carolina’s lack of size in especially their top six, I highly doubt the Canes would want to move Svechnikov.
Related: Rod Brind’Amour Awarded North Carolina’s Highest Civilian Award
Getting a star in this league means giving up something valuable, so any trade for Pettersson is going to cost Carolina something they don’t want to lose.
So it’s just a matter of how much value a top-15 centerman has in their eyes versus the value of what they would have to give up?
Matthew Tkachuck is a trade I always think about when it comes to trading star talent.
Florida lost a 100-point winger in Jonathan Huberdeau and a solid defenseman in MacKenzie Weegar, but Tkachuk was the piece they needed and they won the Stanley Cup with him last year.
However, I’m just a writer and I have no idea how the front office thinks, so I’m not sure how a deal like this would actually work out.
But if you’re not at least poking around right now, what are you even doing?
