I think there's a better chance of the Canucks jettisoning Miller and firing Rick Tocchet before they make a Barzal for Pettersson trade.Look into the stories about Horvat and Miller in Vancouver. JT clearly a bit of an a dick head everywhere he ends up.
I’d love to pry Pettersson out of Van
His cap hit is what it is, he’s a PPG player with over 400+ games under his belt averaging 25 PP points per season. He’s an elite talent.Semantics? Really? Call them whatever you want, the evidence is clear: you need future HOF caliber, or near that, palyers to win Cups. Name a cup winner that doesn't have a future HOFer on it? I can only find one, maybe, and they had Brindamour, Recchi and Staal, three 1000pt+ borderliners, two of which may still get in. You need greats or whatever you want to call them.
As someone who has had the exact same surgery as Eichel and at the same level, there was little downside. And not just because it worked for me, or him. It is highly, highly succesful surgery. No one will ever convince me that Eichel didn't play that card to a tee. Vegas knew that. For anyone not trying to sensationalize the situation, the risk was far less than reported.
As for Miller/Pettersson, if Pettersson is so soft that Miller's attitude can get him off his game to the degree that it seems to have, then despite his skill, he isn't the guy you want for that dough.
I generally agree with your argument, particularly as it regards surrounding elite talent with the right support, but not for Pettersson. I can even understand how you might think I'm talking out of both sides of my mouth. We need elite and there might be elite and now I don't want him. But the particular "weakness" Petterrson displays is a red flag for me. I would prefer another, quite possibly less talented but still elite/great who displays an intense burn to win. I'm sure Pettersson wants to win but I'm not at all sure he is willing to do what it takes to get there. That's the intangible that every player on my original post also displays. In short, just because he is possibly available is not a good enough reason to choose him IMO, knowing full well that such players are in very short supply. I get that.His cap hit is what it is, he’s a PPG player with over 400+ games under his belt averaging 25 PP points per season. He’s an elite talent.
The Isles need such a player and as I have been saying, you only get that player when they are disgruntled or in a contract dispute (absent the draft). He would be by far the most elite player this franchise has had since Lafontaine (what did he win, anywhere? Nothing).
Getting into whether he’s ‘it’ or not is not the discussion for the Isles. Bring the talent, then supplement it vs praying/hoping draft picks turn into such a player. You can surround a player if he has a weakness in his game, it’s when you collect 4 of them together aka Toronto that it’s an issue.