Three Canadian teams are making noise in very different ways this week, and the common thread is simple: none of them are looking for a headline-driven mess.
In Vancouver, Elias Pettersson is right back in the middle of trade chatter, but his agent, J.P. Barry, is flatly denying that the Canucks came close to moving him or ever asked him to waive his no-trade clause.
Barry called the talk untrue and added that trades have been difficult to pull off around the league this season. Even so, the speculation has not exactly disappeared, especially after word surfaced that Pettersson’s family recently bought a home in Los Angeles.
That detail naturally set off more buzz, given the Kings’ obvious need for a top-line center.
For now, though, the Canucks’ real priority appears to be keeping Pettersson pointed in the right direction. GM Ryan Johnson said he wants to create an environment where Pettersson feels supported and can be himself.
Johnson is hoping that kind of setup gets Pettersson back to playing his best hockey. Not everyone is sold on what some would call a “coddling” approach for an $11.6 million-a-year player, but Vancouver seems focused on the bigger picture: getting its star back on track, not shipping him out.
Toronto is taking a very different kind of precaution with Gavin McKenna. The Marlies confirmed he will not play in this weekend’s Prospects Challenge in Gatineau.
He did practice with the group and was at the opening dinner, but the team is keeping him out of the games for now so he can keep training and stay rested for the season ahead. The logic is pretty easy to follow.
Prospect tournaments can get chippy fast, and the last thing the organization wants is for McKenna to take a hit from some unknown player trying to make a name for himself before the season even begins.
That call seems to have landed well with fans, who are openly backing the decision online and pointing to how physical these events can get. McKenna also sounded fine with it, saying he’s just doing whatever the team thinks is best, even if it would have been fun to get some games in. For Toronto, this is the kind of cautious move that makes sense when you’re banking on a player’s long-term future.
Edmonton’s situation is more about skepticism than caution. While McDavid and Draisaitl are already talking up Babcock, TSN’s Jeff O’Neill isn’t convinced the new coach is about to flip a switch with the Oilers’ biggest stars.
O’Neill’s argument is straightforward: Babcock’s history suggests he never really brought the hammer down on his top players. He pointed to names like Datsyuk, Zetterberg, Matthews, and Marner as examples of stars who never seemed to get the hard-edged treatment people are now expecting in Edmonton.
O’Neill’s larger point is that this whole idea of a coach suddenly delivering a brutal wake-up call to players with that much leverage doesn’t really line up with Babcock’s track record. It’s one thing to ask for more structure and accountability.
It’s another to act like a coach who’s spent years handling stars with kid gloves is suddenly going to become a no-nonsense enforcer. None of it will matter much if the results are there.
If Babcock’s approach leads to a Cup, the noise disappears. If it doesn’t, this skepticism is only going to get louder.
In Other News...
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Oilers Linked To Proven Scorer As One Big Question Looms
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The challenge, of course, is the cap. Edmonton does not have much room to play with, so any serious look at Kreider would likely require a creative structure or a discounted number to make it happen. His recent production keeps him on the radar, but the bigger issue is whether a team built around high-end stars can find a way to squeeze in another established scorer without creating problems elsewhere on the roster. [Read more 🡒]