Report Suggests Big Trade Between Vancouver Canucks & New York Islanders Could Be Coming
Photo credit: Bob Frid - USA TODAY Sports
A reporter has suggested a pretty big trade between the Vancouver Canucks and New York Islanders that would see the two teams swap star forwards, who could be in need of a fresh start.
It could be an interesting summer in Vancouver as the management group plans to be aggressive in order to upgrade their roster and it appears more likely than not that they'll have to go down the trade route to add anything of significance ahead of the 2025-26 campaign.
Last month, General Manager Patrik Allvin said he would be stupid not to keep his options open regarding the possibility of trading Elias Pettersson this summer and while it seems unlikely, if the Canucks receive a big offer with assets that they desperately need, they'll have to seriously think about it.
Reporter suggests big trade between Vancouver Canucks & New York Islanders
In an article on Daily Faceoff last week, Matt Larkin took a look at a few players in the National Hockey League that could be in need of a fresh start for the 2025-26 season.
Larkin mentions that Elias Pettersson could be a player that needs a fresh start and that the pressure of playing in a Canadian market may have gotten to the Swedish forward.
He also went on to wonder if a trade between the Vancouver Canucks and New York Islanders involving Elias Pettersson and Coquitlam's Mat Barzal would make sense for either team, who are looking to make some changes this summer and return to the Stanley Cup Playoffs in 2026.
"Has any player in any market needed more of a fresh start in recent memory than Pettersson? Okay, maybe J.T. Miller did. But trading him didn't seem to fix whatever was holding back Pettersson, whose 102-point season of 2022-23 seems like a lifetime ago.
It feels like the pressure of a hockey-mad Canadian market has gotten to Pettersson, who has never seemed particularly comfortable with the attention. He's still just 26 and, when healthy, brings a superstar-caliber set of tools." Larkin said.
He added, "It wouldn't be remotely surprising to see him become an elite player again, but it may not happen unless he changes addresses. Would a hockey trade involving Pettersson and B.C. native Barzal make sense?"
It feels like the pressure of a hockey-mad Canadian market has gotten to Pettersson, who has never seemed particularly comfortable with the attention. He's still just 26 and, when healthy, brings a superstar-caliber set of tools." Larkin said.
He added, "It wouldn't be remotely surprising to see him become an elite player again, but it may not happen unless he changes addresses. Would a hockey trade involving Pettersson and B.C. native Barzal make sense?"
The New York Islanders have $26.5 million available in cap space this summer, according to PuckPedia and could easily take on the entirety of Elias Pettersson's contract, which comes with an average annual value of $11.6 million.
Meanwhile for the Vancouver Canucks, Mat Barzal and his $9.1 million AAV salary would be more than manageable for Patrik Allvin and if it happened to be a straight 1-for-1 swap between the two teams, it would open up an extra $2.5 million to make other additions to the roster during the summer.
Source: Matt Larkin/Daily Faceoff
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| POLL | ||
MAI 25 | 1999 ANSWERS Report Suggests Big Trade Between Vancouver Canucks & New York Islanders Could Be Coming Do you think the Vancouver Canucks should trade Elias Pettersson for Mat Barzal? | ||
| Yes | 1256 | 62.8 % |
| No | 743 | 37.2 % |
| List of polls | ||
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