The announcement of the monster transaction between the Hurricanes of Carolina, the Colorado avalanche and the Chicago Blackhawks shook the world of hockey, but a real media bomb was dropped by Pierre Lebrun just after the official announcement.
According to the Insider of TSN, Elias Pettersson was on the verge of becoming a member of the Carolina Hurricanes before the triple transaction materialized. A draft that raises a burning question:
As soon as the rumor began to circulate, amateurs and experts wondered which player of the Canucks would have been included in this aborted exchange.
The most plausible answer seems to point to Elias Pettersson. JT Miller, at 32 years old on March 14, is on the descending slope and the Caroline would never have agreed to send Necas to Vancouver for an aging guy like Miller.
Aged 25 and still under contract for several seasons, Pettersson represents a more stable and lasting option for Caroline than Mikko Rantanen, who will become a standalone player this summer.
Especially since the Hurricanes are very weak in the center with Jordan Staal and Jesperi Kotkaniemi behind Sebastian Aho.
The risk is immense for the Hurricanes: they could lose Rantanen for nothing if they fail to extend it.
While the exchange would have included Martin Nečas and other elements, several experts agreed that Caroline may have made better opt for Pettersson, which is a safe bet and under long-term contract.
Lebrun’s revelation also highlights a burning question for the Montreal Canadian:
What would have been necessary for Kent Hughes to acquire a player from Elias Pettersson’s caliber?
By comparing the market value of Martin Nečas (55 points in 49 games, including 16 goals), it is clear that an exchange including Pettersson would have required CH a high price.
According to several sources, to compete with the offer of Caroline, Kent Hughes should have sacrificed Cole Caufield, his young maiden, which is absolutely not in the plans of the organization.
For the Canadian, Caulfield is part of the basic nucleus, and the idea of exchanging it for Pettersson is unthinkable.
But this situation makes it possible to better understand how the acquisition of an elite player requires considerable sacrifices.
Hughes, cautious in its management, knows that the exchange of young talents for a major room like Pettersson could in the short term be a gain, but in the long term a huge risk.
By deciding to go and get Rantanen rather than trying Pettersson’s acquisition, the Hurricanes took a daring bet.
If they fail to sign Rantanen before the opening of the market for autonomous players, this transaction could turn into a real nightmare.
The pressure is now at its height of the direction of the Hurricanes, who must quickly convince Rantanen to prolong, under penalty of seeing this transaction turning against them.
For cannucks, seeing this exchange collapsed leaves a bitter taste. Exchanging Elias Pettersson, who is still under contract, would have allowed Vancouver to acquire Nečas and other assets to better build their offensive depth.
But the negotiations have not succeeded, and now the Canucks must wonder if the opportunity to maximize the value of Pettersson will return.
This explosive revelation of Pierre Lebrun reveals the underside of an aborted exchange that could have changed the face of the league.
The acquisition of Rantanen by Caroline is a poker blow that highlights the enormous risks taken by the teams in search of immediate success.
-For Kent Hughes and the Montreal Canadian, this situation proves the importance of cautious and calculated management of assets.
It is clear that in the present reality of the NHL, each decision can have major repercussions on the future of a franchise.
The NHL’s eyes are now turned to Caroline: will Rantanen sign, or will this transaction become one of the greatest errors of the decade?
Why has the transaction failed between the Canucks and the Hurricanes?
Despite intensive negotiations between the Vancouver Canucks and the Hurricanes of Caroline, the transaction involving Elias Pettersson or JT Miller finally failed. Several sources report that one of the main obstacles was Vancouver’s absolute desire to obtain a center in return from one of his star players.
However, Caroline had no leading center likely to meet their requirements.
In the NHL, leading centers are rare and precious assets, much more difficult to exchange than a winger.
Vancouver wanted at all costs a player capable of immediately replacing the production of Pettersson or Miller, but Caroline could not offer a leading center.
Faced with this dead end, the cannucks began to consider the Martin Nečas option, a talented winger who could compensate for the loss of one of their centers.
Another important factor in discussions was the internal conflict between Elias Pettersson and JT Miller. For a long time, tensions have existed between the two players, which has pushed the management of the Canucks to explore exchange options that do not include a center in return.
Through this potential exchange, Vancouver sought to solve this internal problem by exchanging Pettersson for Nečas and other assets.
Another element that has slowed down discussions is the lack of young leading centers in the Hurricanes hopes basin. Hope Bradley Nadeau, although an excellent striker in the making, is not a natural center, which posed a problem of succession for canucks.
They wanted an immediate and long -term solution to the center position, which Caroline could not offer.
Finally, the cannucks decided that the active ingredients accompanied Nečas were not sufficient to sacrifice a player of the Pettersson caliber.
Vancouver therefore put an end to talks, preferring to wait for a better offer that could include a center truly capable of taking over.
If Kent Hughes wanted to try to acquire Elias Pettersson, he should probably have sacrificed a leading player.
Everyone thinks of Nick Suzuki. But by seeing the value attributed to Nečas in negotiations, it becomes obvious that the closest player in value in the CHI squad would be Cole Caufield.
Especially since the latter is signed for another 7 years while Necas is only signed for next season.
Hughes is however firmly convinced that Suzuki and Caufield are those who will bring the Stanley Cup in Montreal back.
Elias Pettersson will never become a member of the Montreal Canadian.
