The Buffalo Sabres have emerged as leading contenders to land Vancouver Canucks star Elias Pettersson in a trade partnership nobody saw coming. According to NHL insider Elliotte Friedman, reporting the news during Sportsnet's "Saturday Headlines" segment,

The dust is still settling around the NHL following a massive blockbuster deal between the Carolina Hurricanes, Colorado Avalanche, and the Chicago Blackhawks.

The Vancouver Canucks signed Elias Pettersson to an eight-year, $92.8 million contract extension in March, ensuring he wouldn’t hit restricted free agency and committing to the 26-year-old as a core piece for the future. Less than a year later, Petterson is at the center of NHL rumors ahead of the March 7 trade deadline.

But with discussions for Miller not seemingly going well, it appears that teams are still calling about Pettersson.

The Vancouver Canucks have been working the phones and it appears a new favourite has emerged in a potential Elias Pettersson trade.

After Friday’s blockbuster trade between the Colorado Avalanche and the Carolina Hurricanes, which sent pending unrestricted free agent Mikko Rantanen, one of the NHL’s premier forwards, from the Avs to the Canes in exchange for sniper Martin Necas,

NHL insider Elliotte Friedman revealed during Sportsnet's "Saturday Headlines" segment that the Canucks were in fact close to trading star forward Elias Pettersson to the Hurricanes. “There was a time (Friday) I thought that Pettersson was going to be a Carolina Hurricane,” Friedman said. “Obviously, it didn’t happen.

NHL insider Elliotte Friedman reported on Sportsnet's "Saturday Headlines" that Pettersson has informed Canucks management that he "would like to stay" with the team, offering the franchise some clarity on his vantage point.

Typically, when an NHL team has the luxury of counting on two 100-point players in its lineup, things go the right way. In Vancouver, the opposite is happening right now. The situation surrounding Elias Pettersson and J.