The Sabres have the assets to entice Vancouver into a trade. The bigger question is what, exactly, Buffalo might have to give up.

The Buffalo Sabres have emerged as contenders to land Vancouver Canucks star Elias Pettersson in a trade partnership nobody saw coming. According to NHL insider Elliotte Friedman, reporting the news during Sportsnet's "Saturday Headlines" segment, the Sabres are a serious contender to get Pettersson.

The dust is still settling around the NHL following a massive blockbuster deal between the Carolina Hurricanes, Colorado Avalanche, and the Chicago Blackhawks.

The Vancouver Canucks signed Elias Pettersson to an eight-year, $92.8 million contract extension in March, ensuring he wouldn’t hit restricted free agency and committing to the 26-year-old as a core piece for the future. Less than a year later, Pettersson is at the center of NHL rumors ahead of the March 7 trade deadline.

With less than 40 days to go until the NHL trade deadline, the expectation is that talks will begin heating up in the coming weeks and the Vancouver Canucks will likely be in the thick of things.

As of late last week the Vancouver Canucks haven’t really been impressed with the trade offers they been receiving for forward J.T. Miller, so it wouldn’t be a surprise if there is more Elias Pettersson trade speculation.

Buffalo Sabres and Vancouver Canucks could make a blockbuster trade including Dylan Cozens and Elias Pettersson, according to insider reports

But with discussions for Miller not seemingly going well, it appears that teams are still calling about Pettersson.

Just a handful of days after Flyers’ general manager Daniel Briere said, “The reality is, there’s not a lot of high-end centermen in this league. And teams have them, they want to keep them, or the price is crazy,

If rumors are true and the Vancouver Canucks are interested in trading star Elias Pettersson, Adam Proteau says the Buffalo Sabres' reported pursuit of the Canucks center is a good idea.

When Mikko Rantanen was traded to the Carolina Hurricanes, it surprised many, including myself. We knew that the Colorado Avalanche and Rantanen were having difficulty finding common ground for a contract extension.