The Carolina Hurricanes nearly traded for Elias Pettersson Friday; instead they picked up Colorado’s Mikko Rantanen.
After Friday’s blockbuster trade between the Colorado Avalanche and the Carolina Hurricanes, TSN’s Pierre LeBrun revealed an interesting tidbit.
According to the Insider, the Hurricanes and Canucks were close to a deal, but in the end Carolina opted to trade for Mikko Rantanen and Taylor Hall.
Carolina traded Martin Necas and Jack Drury to Colorado, plus a pair of draft picks. They also sent a draft pick to Chicago for Hall and Chicago retained 50 per cent of Rantanen’s salary along the way.
Miller, it’s understood, has also been mentioned in trade talks by Vancouver; the Canucks recognize that they can’t continue with both Miller and Pettersson on the same roster.
It’s now understood Carolina made a trade inquiry on Pettersson last season as well, before he signed an eight-year, $92.8 million contract extension with the Canucks.
The offers for Miller are understood to be weak right now, even though Miller had a 103-point season last year. Miller this season has been pretty poor as well and there are a lot of questions swirling about why he took a 10-game personal leave earlier this season. Why Miller left the team has remained shrouded in mystery, though it was suggested he was overwhelmed by circumstances and needed to take some time away to reset.
But both players have played poorly and the team’s overall efforts have been abysmal. Sources behind the scenes have acknowledged Canucks management has been trying to trade Miller, though obviously haven’t yet seen a deal they’re willing to accept, even as they know they’re going to have to accept pennies on the dollar.
And so we continue to wait for a deal, be it for Miller, or, apparently, maybe for Petterson.