According to TSN NHL insider Pierre LeBrun on "Insider Trading", the Columbus Blue Jackets and Vancouver Canucks have had preliminary talks regarding an Elias Pettersson trade.
The Blue Jackets have emerged as one of the hottest young teams in the NHL this season with a 25-19-7 record at the time of this writing, and they have done this despite changing coaches again and making a number of additions and subtractions to their roster throughout the season.
Sean Monahan has 41 points in 41 games; Zach Werenski and Kirill Marchenko each have more points than games played, and players like Adam Fantilli, Kent Johnson, and Dmitri Voronkov have taken steps forward.
A number of these players have missed time due to injury this season as well, making the surprise run to an Eastern Conference wildcard spot all the more impressive.
Adding a stud down the middle, such as the Canucks' Pettersson, could be the perfect move to vault the above core into contention for annual playoff pushes, and perhaps more.
Although the Canucks have dangled both Pettersson and J.T. Miller in trade talks, the Blue Jackets are solely discussing Pettersson, which adds up given that he is still only 26 years old. It was previously reported that the Carolina Hurricanes had the concept of a trade for Pettersson in place before pivoting from the Canucks and acquiring Mikko Rantanen.
Additionally, the Buffalo Sabres were mentioned by NHL insider Elliotte Friedman as a team to watch if or when Pettersson gets traded by the Canucks.