The entire landscape of the NHL was shifted on Friday when the Carolina Hurricanes and Colorado Avalanche came together to make one of the biggest deals we've seen in recent NHL memory.
That almost wasn't the case however, as 'Canes GM Eric Tulsky was exploring all options, and according to Vancouver reporter Rick Dhaliwal, that almost meant a trade involving superstar centre Elias Pettersson and Martin Necas, who became a huge part of the package going back to Colorado.
Dhaliwal reported that the Canucks have been chasing Martin Necas since last year, and after discussions with Carolina, the team were prepared to send Pettersson East in a package that would have included the rising Hurricanes star.
While no details were leaked on any pieces to be included beyond those two, it's safe to say that this would have been a major deal, but ultimately, Tulsky and the Hurricanes pivoted and landed a much bigger star in Rantanen, getting Chicago involved to make the deal happen.
Clearly, that never came to fruition, and it's unclear at this point whether it was Vancouver that turned down the final offer from the 'Canes or whether Tulsky decided he could make a better deal elsewhere, but ultimately, the NHL has been rocked by this blockbuster, and now we wait to see where Vancouver pivot too after this.
POLL | ||
JANVIER 25 | 732 ANSWERS Vancouver Canucks Almost Traded Elias Pettersson to the Carolina Hurricanes: Per Top Canucks Insider Did Carolina make the right call by moving for Mikko Rantanen instead? | ||
Yes | 574 | 78.4 % |
No | 158 | 21.6 % |
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