NHL Rumors: Vancouver Canucks, Anaheim Ducks, Colorado Avalanche

Welcome to another edition of Full Press Hockey’s NHL Rumors!  The holiday roster freeze (Dec. 20-27) is in effect but hasn’t silenced the trade and free-agent rumors. General managers are always looking to improve their rosters, with approximately 50 games remaining in the 2024-25 season.

NHL rumors in this edition include:

Are the Vancouver Canucks and struggling Buffalo Sabres working on a trade? Will the Anaheim Ducks move forward with Frank Vatrano at the trade deadline? Can the Colorado Avalanche obtain a much-needed bottom-six forward?

Vancouver Canucks – Elias Pettersson

Rumor: Per – Elliotte Friedman – sportsnet.com. Will the Canucks deal Elias Pettersson to the Buffalo Sabres for Dylan Cozens and Bowen Byram?

There seems to be some disagreement between J.T. Miller and Elias Pettersson, and that’s never a good thing in the clubhouse. So, which one of the players gets traded? Of the two, Pettersson is more likely to be sent packing. We all know that the Sabres are struggling, to say the least. They are 0-10-3 in their last 13 games and need something to fix that situation.

While Pettersson may not be dealt, mainly because of a disagreement with Miller, he has been mentioned in NHL rumors. The salaries match up as well. Pettersson has an eight-year deal worth $11.6 million AAV. Cozens has a seven-year contract coming in at $7.10 million AAV. Byram has a $3.85 million contract expiring after this season when he becomes a restricted free agent (RFA)

Pierre LeBrun (TSN, The Athletic) cited league sources saying the Vancouver Canucks are in the market for a top-four defenseman, a need further highlighted by the absence of Filip Hronek as he recovers from a lower-body injury. Byram is young (23), has four goals, and has 14 assists in 33 games.

We will need to see if this proposed trade goes down.

Anaheim Ducks – Frank Vatrano

Rumor: Per – Eric Stephens – nytimes.com. Will the Ducks hold onto Frank Vatrano or move him at the deadline?

Vatrano is in the last year of his $3.65 million deal. He is and always has been a streaky scorer. He has five goals and three assists in his 10 games. “I feel like I’ve been like that my whole career,” Vatrano said. “I’ll go through these slumps and then kind of score in bunches. I’ve always been doing that my entire career. Obviously, when I got off to the start that I did this year, you can kind of grip your stick a little bit too tight. I think at the end of the day, you don’t got to worry about scoring goals. You gotta worry about the things that get you scoring goals.”

GM Pat Verbeek needs to decide now whether to keep Vatrano or see what he brings in at the trade deadline. Verbeek evaluates which players he wants to stick around when his team is finally competitive again. Vatrano may be the guy he prefers to help build the club into a contender. Of course, that may depend on what kind of offer he gets for him and how much longer the rebuild will take.

Calgary Flames: Calgary Flames Weighing All Trade Options

Colorado Avalanche – Bottom-six forward

Rumor: Per – Aarif Deen – coloradohockeynow.com. With Jonathan Drouin out, the Avs need some help on the bottom-six forward line.

Deen mentioned Yanni Gourde in Seattle, but he is a pricey choice at $5.166 million. Nicholas Robertson in Toronto or Jonatan Berggren in Detroit could be more reasonable options. Or, even Juuso Parssinen in Nashville.

Robertson is an RFA with a $875,000 cap hit. Berggren has a $825,000 pact and is also an RFA. Parssinen is at $775,000 and is also an RFA. These cap hits are low enough to entice the Avs to check them out. They could be a bust or a solution to their needs.

Of course, the best solution would be for Drouin to return, but he has been out for two weeks and is estimated to return on December 27th. Injuries are difficult to judge for a timeline for return. The Avs feel the pressure as the Utah Hockey Club breathes down their necks in the wildcard playoff race. The Avs have played three more games than Utah and only lead them by a slim three points. Thus, there is a need to act quickly to fill the available spot on the bottom-six forward line.

That concludes our NHL rumors for now. Be sure to catch our next article. Thanks for reading!

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