NHL Rumor Mill – January 30, 2025
The latest on Canucks center Elias Pettersson and J.T. Miller, Brandon Saad, Sidney Crosby and more in today’s NHL Rumor Mill.
THE LATEST ON PETTERSSON AND MILLER
THE ATHLETIC: Harman Dayal and Shayna Goldman noticed the recent rise of trade speculation around Elias Pettersson.
Sportsnet’s Elliotte Friedman recently reported the 26-year-old center was close to getting traded to the Carolina Hurricanes before they acquired Mikko Rantanen. He added trade discussions regarding Pettersson are ongoing.
Vancouver Canucks center Elias Pettersson (NHL Images).
Dayal and Goldman believe if it came to a choice for the Canucks they would retain Pettersson and trade J.T. Miller, who turns 32 in March and doesn’t have as many productive seasons ahead.
However, Miller’s trade value appears distressed, the number of interested teams is dwindling and his no-movement clause gives him full control of his situation. Pettersson’s age, track record, and lack of no-trade protection this season could give him more lucrative trade value.
Dayal and Goldman included the Philadelphia Flyers among their proposed list of trade destinations for Pettersson. However, their colleague Kevin Kurz believes Miller would be a better choice, citing his more affordable contract, size, body of work and the Canucks’ lower asking price.
SPECTOR’S NOTE: The offer the Canucks received from the New York Rangers could be the only one they’ve had for Miller. That would explain the recent increase in the Pettersson trade chatter.
The Flyers need a No. 1 center but they might not be interested in Miller because of his age or Pettersson because of his contract. Given the drama between those two, they might not view either player as a good fit for their rebuilding club.
WHAT NEXT FOR BRANDON SAAD AND THE BLUES?
THE ATHLETIC: Jeremy Rutherford believes Brandon Saad’s decision to accept contract termination from the St. Louis Blues is the club’s best-case scenario in addressing this issue.
The Blues tried finding a trade partner for Saad but had no takers partly because of his contract. He had a year left on his deal with an average annual value of $4.5 million and a full no-trade clause this season. The 32-year-old winger cleared waivers and was due to be assigned to their AHL affiliate in Springfield.
By accepting contract termination, Saad becomes an unrestricted free agent. Rutherford speculated the Edmonton Oilers, Toronto Maple Leafs, Vegas Golden Knights, Washington Capitals and Dallas Stars could become suitors, citing their needs for more forward depth.
The contract termination also clears Saad’s $4.5 million from their books for next season, giving them $10 million in cap space.
Rutherford’s colleagues Jonas Siegel and Chris Johnston examined whether the Maple Leafs should sign Saad. They believe he could be despite his struggles this season, citing he’s played for Leafs coach Craig Berube in St. Louis plus he’d be an affordable addition to their forward lines.
SPECTOR’S NOTE: Saad’s championship experience with the Chicago Blackhawks, his seven 20-plus goal seasons, and his affordability will make him a tempting option for contenders seeking forward depth for the postseason.
UPDATE ON THE PENGUINS
TSN: Pittsburgh Penguins captain Sidney Crosby is done addressing trade rumors as his team faces a third season outside the playoff picture. The 37-year-old center was recently linked to the Colorado Avalanche after they traded Mikko Rantanen to the Carolina Hurricanes.
“I know how speculation works: Everybody’s looking to talk about different things, different scenarios,” said Crosby. “I can’t control that. I don’t know where that comes from. I don’t think that it’s something I’m going to discuss every time somebody speculates something. I’m not going to answer it every time it happens.
SPECTOR’S NOTE: For the umpteenth time: Crosby has a full no-movement clause in his current contract and his two-year extension that he signed with the Penguins last year. He wouldn’t have signed that team-friendly extension if he didn’t want to stay in Pittsburgh. He would’ve played out this season, thanked the Penguins and their fans for 20 wonderful years, and hit this summer’s free-agent market where everyone and their dog would’ve fallen all over themselves trying to sign him.
Crosby is a Penguin until he decides he doesn’t want to be. Neither he nor the team have indicated he doesn’t want to be. Until then, as The Bard would say, it’s all sound and fury, signifying nothing.
NHL.COM: Meanwhile, in the real world, Dan Rosen believes Penguins defensemen Marcus Pettersson and Matt Grzelcyk could become rental players by the March 7 trade deadline. He speculates there could be a bigger trade to be made for forward Rickard Rakell or winger Michael Bunting.
SPECTOR’S NOTE: The Penguins are five points out of the final Eastern Conference wild-card berth. They could become sellers if they haven’t gained ground in the standings by March 1.
PREDATORS COULD BECOME BUYERS IF THEY IMPROVE IN THE STANDINGS
THE TENNESSEAN: Alex Daugherty reports Nashville Predators general manager Barry Trotz isn’t ruling out the possibility of becoming a buyer at the March 7 trade deadline. He indicated he could make an addition or two if his club crawls back into the playoff race by then. If not, Trotz said he could become a seller if the returns make sense.
I hope the rest of the hockey world is also done with the Crosby trade rumors. As Lyle says, he’s not going anywhere. Unfortunately bored writers always look for clicks.
Hi Harold, you’re 100% right
Sid Crosby‘s made it Very Clear…. he’s not going anywhere. He’s got a NTC
He’s playing out in Pittsburgh is career. The GM basically said the same thing Crosby’s not going anywhere so everybody’s reading this and we don’t have to talk about this anymore.
Pittsburgh have about 6 or 7 players that can trade this year Three of the D men for sure and at least 3 O r4 forwards to help there Re-build or Re-tool what ever they are calling it……❓
There is no benefit to playing for one franchise your entire career. I hope MacKinnon would want to leave for a contender if the Avs are in rebuild mode at the end of his career.
Just loyalty I guess
Jim Rutherford comments:
So I was thinking about this and it is good that he made these comments about Miller/Petterson. Dont hide behind it, tell it like it is.
Bottom line, these are two adult men, Miller makes almost $100,000/gm USD, Petterson makes $140,000/gm USD. This is paid by the team, by the fans, they should be playing for that crest on their chest, for every other guy in the locker room…for the fans.
These two get paid more in one game than my household makes in a year. Get over it, get a pair, pull up your panties and deliver. They make almost $20 mil a year and are playing like half that. They are also Alternate Captains, maybe those ‘A’ are too heavy for them, they should go to someone more deserving.
I think Canucks should trade both, no, you wont get equal talent back but they should get better depth, and heart.
Your sentiment is probably the same as other teams GMs, Church. Which IMO has to be a consideration in acquiring either, in addition to other noted considerations.
The Canucks are in the thick of the playoff race. Rutherford can just keep both and wait until the off season when his return might be better, or whether the Canucks have learned to live with the rift.
Charch. Sorry, auto correct.
Could the rift between Miller and Pettersson come down to the fact Miller is envious of Pettersson’s salary?
Is Miller ultra competitive and Petterson just getting g by on talent without the work ethic?
What message does this send to the rest of the team?
Maybe they should trade both of them?
Exactly, the locker room is probably divided between both. Trading only one sets winners and losers. Bo Horvat was traded instead of Miller a few yrs ago. Wrong trade IMO.
I agree – two very well paid men acting like spoiled brats. I know you are playing a kids game, but that was before you signed $$$$$$$$ contracts.
Lago…well said.. It is like the young and the fu****ng Restless… get a grip.
I’m sure we have all worked with someone at one of our jobs we don’t particularly like or even can’t stand you make it work
Don’t have to e best buddies but suck it up. It is like these million dollar primidona athletes in the NBA oh I’m unhappy i want out…screw you bro you signed a contract deal with it..
spoiled gen z little s***s LOL
BO HOO You are unhappy but you make more in one season than most people can make or save for retirement in a life time. You blessed and your lucky J.T MIller and Elias Petersson.
shut the front door a Holes
Charch. I agree.
Everying takes the L on this mess. The two players involved most of all.
But not unscathed imo is the reflection this has on the GM, coach and ,yes even Hughes as captian.
Get rid of both would be my take as well unless I could be certain that this fiasco would not erupt again with the player I keep and the other new and future incoming players. But we don’t have all the info.
Rutherford mentioned about what a rebuild may mean for the retention of Hughes…how does the current locker room drama impact his retention is the more concerning problem
I thought Trotz was an intelligent man. No way his team crawls back anywhere close to a playoff spot…but then again a jock is a jock…I know he has to say something but be a bit realistic in the analysis of your team please.. Nashville is a mess especially after going out during the season and signing a few vets that are just that a few vets who will not help very much in the long run…I would of expected more from a fellow Manitoban
With the roster they have now, the chances of Pittsburgh gaining significant ground in the standings by March 1 have to be rated as somewhere between slim and none.
Five points out of a WC slot with 29 games left to play may look negligible on paper, but for starters the team currently holding the 2nd WC position (Tampa) has 4 games in hand on the Penguins and is, by any definition, far superior in every facet of the game.
Then there’s the daunting challenge of climbing over 7 teams in order to get there, every one of which has anywhere from 1 to 4 games in hand and all are playing to date at a level above .500. A couple may falter down the stretch … but all 7?
Pittsburgh needs to pull a Lamoriello and get out in front of any trade deals now to start building a solid prospect pool for the future. Re-tooling to get there is a fan-boy’s pipe dream.
George, I see Crosby comment as not ruling out anything. He says he’s not going to respond every time there’s speculation. They could change if they start selling. Does he really want to end career in a rebuild?
Slick62, he’d have to be dense to the core not to see that that is the direction they MUST take.
And Sid is no dummy.
I respectfully disagree with Jeremy Rutherford regarding Saad: the BEST-CASE scenario for the Blues/Armstrong would have been a trade to get a 3rd round draft pick (even if it required retaining $1million of his salary). The Blues have only 1 pick in the 1st four rounds of the draft—nothing in the 2nd, 3rd, 4th rounds. I know he said Armstrong tried–try harder
IP
With any chance of Saad getting a new deal anywhere near his expired $4.5 mil cap hit a long-shot in the extreme, the questions now become what will he eventually sign for …. and where?
If I had to venture a guess – and he’s considering any of the 5 teams speculated above – I’d say it would come down to Washington and Vegas.
Don’t think it comes down to the team or the money but the term.
He wants to stay in the show and be relevant. 1 way 2 year deal at 2m per or even less. And he takes it. Even if it’s the Hawks.
That would be interesting. In that event, maybe Staios sees him as the type of player he’d like in order to bolster the bottom 6 Forwards, and so makes a pitch with a 2-year offer.
He has enough in cap space now, coupled with the cap hit of whoever he’d option to Belleville to make room (Ostapchuk $825,000 or Highmore $775,000). He could also get a few extra $$ to add to his reserve by putting Cousins ($800,000) on LTIR.
Iowa prince, there was no market for Saad in any deal because of his contract. He only becomes a desired asset now because he will sign for considerably less. Armstrong tried for 3 months and couldn’t give him away.
It’s true given his body of work someone will sign him and he will produce results in the short term. However on a regular basis this year he reverted to his pattern of being great for a game or two then disappearing for 3 to 4 weeks. Plus the hidden bonus is that it makes ice time available for Bolduc and Texier. Apparently the only way to get Montgomery to play the younger guys is to get rid of the veterans. Sundquist is hopefully next maybe Krug and Leddy do the same.
If the point is to retool with mixing in younger players then do it, they can’t get better sitting in the press box or getting 4th line minutes. Case in point, Perinovich played almost 19 minutes in his Islander debut but he couldn’t even get into the Blues lineup. The Blues aren’t contenders this year so to your point move older assets for picks they have a handful of top end prospects on the way so they can take picks in the future as opposed to immediate value.
I remember when Saad was good enough to get you a Panarin.
Re, Vancouver Canucks center Elias Pettersson
Where do You see him being Traded Too…..
What’s your 2 top team’s
My 2 votes are….
1st
vote is Buffalo
2/
2nd vote is NJ
I think Dallas has a shot, too. Absolute wild card: Habs. They have the assets and (currently) the cap space. They give back one bigger contract with a lot of good assets and they could make it work.
I don’t think the Sabres want to give up what the Canucks supposedly want for Petterson. Buffalo needs a top 4, right shot defenseman.
Hey Toronto St Pats,
Tyler Myers is there as more of A 2nd pair RD shut down….
then the got Carson Soucy A LD/RD who can also play there 2nd pairing
They need a younger offencive LD, they asked for
23 yr old Bowen Byram before it was a sticking point buffalo did not want to trade him, he does not get much PP Time….
24 points in 49 games🤔
I think 23 yr old Centre Dylan Cousins
&
23 yr old LD Bowen Byram
are on the table, and maybe a sweetener…..❓
Thats the best offer on the table for sure…….🤔
Saad will land. A playoff team will like the scoring and forward depth
Skinny Pete will be hard to move. It would take another Rantanen type deal and those don’t happen every day week or year.
Vancouver is a mess! Outside of the fiasco between 9 and 40,they have to deal with Demko and Boeser! After the 4 nations tourney Hughes might want to be traded to NJ to play with his brothers! Good luck getting 10 cents on the dollar!
While you have to admire the optimism of Barry Trotz, his team’s situation when it comes to making the playoffs in the West are no better really than those of Pittsburgh’s in the East.
They currently sit 8th some 13 points back of the 2nd WC slot now held by Vancouver, and with just 1 game in hand. And they’d need to climb over 6 teams in order to get there with 33 games left to play and have all 6 conveniently go into long losing skids to accommodate them.
Sell, Barry, sell. Forget being a buyer again.
GeorgeO Trotz is dreaming! He s trying to make it look good to Stamkos and those guys so they can t dwell on how bad the situation is there!What a mistake trading that young Russian goalie to SJ!Take your pick Saros or Swayman 2 contracts that are looking bad right now!I Don t know who did worse in free agency,Boston or Nashville? Lindholm 3rd line center making 7.75 AAV! What a swing and miss for Sweeney and Neeley! Maybe they will listen to Chara!
Agreed – the Preds have too many holes in their lineup. Time for a rebuild and look at what the Caps did in the off-season to get it done efficiently.
I agree – two very well paid men acting like spoiled brats. I know you are playing a kids game, but that was before you signed $$$$$$$$ contracts.
@ 8787 Hey man hope you are well.
You and I disagree on the Jake Guentzel deal you thinking Penguins and Dubas got hosed.
We got Michael Bunting who is on pace for his second 20 goal season with the Penguins
We got Ville Koivunen who had 4 goals vs Hershey last night for the Wilkes Barres up to 14 goals for the baby Penguins
Vasily Ponomarev had a hat trick last night for Wilkes Barre Penguins
Cruz Lucius was at Wisconsin and now at Arizona State was on the national USA 18 year old hockey team has 11 goals 23 assists 34 points in 34 games this past year.
We also got a second round pick..
I think Dubas did well especially considering everyone knew Jake was leaving.
I had heard that JT Miller became a distraction in Tampa’s dressing room which is why they traded him away.
A post on X recently resurfaced from Farhan Lalji from Dec. 13, 2022 that predicted this was coming during the Bo Horvat and Miller trade rumors back in the 2022/23 season. “Bo and Schenn are the two people to be around in that room. When they’re gone it will only get more toxic.”
I would put the link to it, but my work blocks X now.
Maybe it’s hard to trade Miller because of his attitude?
IMO it would be a huge mistake to trade Pettersson. Rarely players with his skill show up in the trade market for a reason.
The Canucks need to bite the bullet and trade Miller at a loss and move on. This situation will only drive other players away and UFAs will not consider signing in Vancouver. There are already rumors that Boeser, who is a UFA, has already decided that he isn’t resigning in Vancouver.
Would be interesting to see a trade between Van and Anaheim around Pettersson.
Maybe something like Zegras, Gudas, Mintyukov, plus another pick or prospect. At least as a starting point.
Zegras clearly needs a change.
That’s an extremely weak offer for Elias Pettersson.
Trevor Zegras can’t even stay healthy, And there’s zero chance of Gudas ever waiving for any Canadian team.
And I don’t see Patrik Allvin trading Elias Pettersson within the same division.
Crosby’s extension is a retirement tour contract and the hockey world needs to get over it. If he wanted another cup he’d have been traded 2 years ago.
It’s marvelous how GM’s find ways around the cap case in point is Brandon Saad mutual agreement to dissolve his contract removing his cap hit from the blues
Another loophole that they will have to discuss at GM meetings
How could the NHLPA reject or even be opposed to something that is mutual?
Is it just me or can anyone else see 3 or 4 better candidates to be captain of team USA at the four nations?
Larkin
McAvoy
M. Tkachuk
would have been my picks
Before this season Matthews had never been captain of a team. So it’s a little surprising that Team USA named him captain.
Dark G sentimental choice Brock Nelson! Stuck with Lou L all those years,he deserves a break!