Here's a three-team trade idea that sends Elias Pettersson from the Canucks to Carolina, and it works better than it has any right to.
In this version, Carolina gets Pettersson and Utah gets Andrei Svechnikov. Vancouver walks away with Dmitry Simashev, Bradley Nadeau and Utah's first-round pick.
To be clear, nobody has reported talks on this. It's a pitch, built on where the market already seems to be heading.
Pettersson to Carolina (Vancouver / Carolina / Utah)
Carolina gets: Elias Pettersson, the elite center they've been chasing for years.
Utah gets: Andrei Svechnikov, a power winger for a young team with cap room.
Vancouver gets: Dmitri Simashev, Bradly Nadeau and Utah's first-round pick to speed up its reset.
Nick Kypreos said Thursday that teams are "beginning to come around to the idea of acquiring Pettersson," with Vancouver likely needing to eat part of his $11,600,000 cap hit.
His last outing didn't help the sales pitch. He logged 20:48 in a 2-1 loss to Edmonton last night without a shot on goal.
So why would Carolina bite?
Because the Hurricanes won the Stanley Cup in June, and a champion rarely gets a cleaner window to add a star forward.
Wild three-team trade sends Elias Pettersson to the Hurricanes
Svechnikov is no throw-in. He put up 70 points in 79 games last season.
Then he added 11 points in 19 playoff games during Carolina's Cup run.
His $7,750,000 cap hit runs through 2028-29, which gives Utah cost certainty it can actually plan around.
The Mammoth don't have a single player among the league's 30 biggest cap hits. Andre Tourigny could use a 6-foot-3 right winger who already knows how to win in June.
For Carolina, swapping the winger for Pettersson adds $3,850,000 in cap before Nadeau's number comes off the books.
Vancouver's return is all about the reset. Simashev logged 21:44 on Utah's blue line last night in a 5-4 overtime loss at Vegas.
Nadeau picked up a power-play assist in Carolina's 6-5 win over Nashville.
This is the right kind of deal for the Canucks, even if it stings. Two young pieces and a first-rounder beat paying a star to go shotless in September.
It's like trading in a luxury car you can't afford to insure for two reliable rides and a savings bond.
Eric Tulsky would still have to sell Rod Brind'Amour on moving a winger who just helped deliver a Cup. That's the hardest conversation in this entire deal.
The Canucks host Seattle on Saturday and visit Carolina on October 8. If Pettersson is still wearing blue by then, this idea only gets louder.
Should the Hurricanes give up Andrei Svechnikov to land Elias Pettersson in this three-team deal?
Also read on Markerzone.com:
Three Canadian teams poised to pursue Kirill Marchenko
