December 16, 2024 | 5:00pm ET
TheFourthPeriod.com

RUMOURS RUN WILD AS CANUCKS, SABRES TALK TRADE

Patrik Allvin and Kevyn Adams

The Buffalo Sabres and Vancouver Canucks have been engaged in trade discussions, but a hypothetical trade involving Elias Pettersson has caused a stir throughout the hockey community.

During Monday’s “32 Thoughts” podcast, Elliotte Friedman was thinking out loud when he suggested the Canucks and Sabres could discuss a trade that could send Pettersson to Buffalo and Dylan Cozens and Bowen Byram to Vancouver.

“I want to stress this is purely in my head,” Friedman noted, attempting to cool the waters before they heated up.

It seems, however, the trade proposal engulfed both fan bases, as most of the talk in Buffalo and Vancouver’s hockey circles revolved around the trade pitch.

Friedman later tried to further explain his reasoning before his proposed trade, while also reiterating that the two teams have indeed had trade talks.

“I was just spit balling, but the two teams have talked, I can see (Vancouver) interest in those players and I can see Buffalo interested in Pettersson,” he told Donnie and Dhali on CHEK TV.

As TFP reported last week, in Friday’s edition of “The Latest,” the Sabres have received interest in Cozens, who is in the second year of his seven-year, $49.7 million contract with the Sabres.

Teams reached out to the Canucks last season regarding Pettersson before he signed an eight-year extension with the club. The Sabres and Carolina Hurricanes were among the teams to inquire last season.

It is unclear whom the Canucks and Sabres are actually chatting about in their recent discussions, though the Canucks are scouring the market for a top-four defenceman and could have legitimate interest in Byram, who is eligible to become a restricted free agent next summer.