Rumor: Trade between the Oilers and Canucks was blocked by a player.

Deal between the Canucks and Oilers has fallen apart.

HockeyFeed
HockeyFeed
Published 4 years ago
Rumor: Trade between the Oilers and Canucks was blocked by a player.
Keystone Press

There have been rumblings for weeks now about a potential deal between the Edmonton Oilers and the Vancouver Canucks, but if you are one of the many fans still holding out hope for such a deal it may be time to give up.

I am of course referring to the long rumored deal that would have sent veteran forward Milan Lucic to the Vancouver Canucks with the main piece of the deal going back the other way being Canucks veteran forward Loui Eriksson. Now this trade rumor was reported on in a number of different ways, but based on the latest that we have heard it sounds a lot like the Oilers were also going to package former 1st round draft pick Jesse Puljujarvi into that deal as well. The deal made a lot of sense for both sides, both teams shifted a current problem onto a rival organization and as for the Canucks they acquire a valuable asset in Puljujarvi for taking on the extra term and complications that come with Lucic's catastrophic contract.

Keeping that in mind it does seem odd given that this deal did not end up going through. It is clear that the Vancouver Canucks want to move past the terrible mistake that was the Loui Eriksson contract, and it is equally clear that the Edmonton Oilers desperately want to move past arguably the biggest blunder of Peter Chiarelli's time in Edmonton, the Milan Lucic deal. So why then has this deal never materialized? 

Well according to comments made by Sportsnet's Dan Murphy last week it appears that it may not have been a decision made at the organization level at all. Instead Murphy reports that it was actually one of the players involved in this trade that nixed the deal.

"You're not trading him for another bad contract because you don't have that cap space," said Murphy. "I believe they had something close to being done at the deadline for Lucic, but it never went through because I've heard Eriksson would not wave to go to Edmonton."

Fans in Vancouver who were terrified at the thought of Lucic becoming a Canuck will no doubt be grateful to Eriksson for blocking the trade. Although I certainly can not blame Eriksson for choosing not to become an Oiler given that organizations recent history, it does seem odd that a player who reportedly wants out would go out of his way to make a deal fall apart.


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