{"id":129854,"date":"2025-07-18T02:59:10","date_gmt":"2025-07-18T02:59:10","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nhl\/129854\/"},"modified":"2025-07-18T02:59:10","modified_gmt":"2025-07-18T02:59:10","slug":"nhl-trade-twist-once-trade-partners-canucks-and-leafs-now-battling-off-ice-for-prized-free-agent-signing-nhl-news","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nhl\/129854\/","title":{"rendered":"NHL Trade Twist: Once trade partners, Canucks and Leafs now battling off-ice for prized free agent signing | NHL News"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"NHLCanucks and Leafs enter fierce bidding war over same free agent target (Imagn Images) The Vancouver Canucks are shaking things up this NHL offseason\u2014and in dramatic fashion. Fresh off a trade with the Toronto Maple Leafs, they now appear to be circling back, hoping to snatch one of Toronto\u2019s most-watched unrestricted free agents. With Elias Pettersson leading the charge and the pressure to win mounting, the Canucks are aggressively scouring both the trade block and free-agent market in search of the missing pieces for a legitimate playoff push.<\/p>\n

Canucks and Maple Leafs reportedly eye same top-tier free agent this offseason<\/p>\n

Just weeks ago, the Canucks and Leafs came together for a seemingly harmless deal involving Dakota Joshua. But Vancouver\u2019s strategy appears to be evolving rapidly, shifting from collaboration to competition. While Toronto attempts to fill the gaping hole left by Mitch Marner\u2019s departure, their former trade partner is now reportedly targeting Jack Roslovic\u2014a name gaining serious traction across the league.Roslovic, one of the most intriguing unrestricted free agents left on the board, has caught the attention of several teams, and Vancouver is right at the front of that pack. \u201cIs there a match between the Canucks and Jack Roslovic? There have been talks with the Canucks and his camp,\u201d noted The Athletic\u2019s Rick Dhaliwal on X. It\u2019s clear that Vancouver isn\u2019t content with simply shuffling around the margins\u2014they\u2019re looking to make a real splash.Meanwhile, Toronto\u2019s acquisition of Joshua, while addressing some depth concerns, does little to solve the top-six talent vacuum. With Mitch Marner gone, Auston Matthews and the remaining stars desperately need reinforcements up front. One name floated as a potential solution is Yegor Chinakhov. \u201cYegor Chinakhov is a perfect example of someone the Leafs should covet,\u201d stated The Leafs Nation\u2019s Nick Alberga. Although Chinakhov won\u2019t fully replace Marner\u2019s production, his upside makes him a gamble worth taking\u2014if the Leafs can pry him away from Columbus.<\/p>\n

Canucks going all-in, no matter the route<\/p>\n

The Canucks aren\u2019t placing all their hopes on Roslovic alone. If the UFA market dries up, a second trade could be in the works. \u201cCanucks can also make another trade to get what they want if the UFA market doesn\u2019t work,\u201d Dhaliwal added, signaling Vancouver\u2019s readiness to adapt on the fly.With the 2025\u201326 season looming, the stakes in Vancouver have never been higher. Expectations are rising not just for Pettersson, but also for captain Quinn Hughes. A postseason berth is non-negotiable at this point. The Canucks are building like the future of their franchise depends on it\u2014because in many ways, it does.Also Read: Matthew Tkachuk\u2019s dream shootout goal doesn\u2019t involve Wayne Gretzky, praises ex-Stanley Cup champ instead<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Canucks and Leafs enter fierce bidding war over same free agent target (Imagn Images) The Vancouver Canucks are…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":129855,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[5106],"tags":[22988,5,1648,20,5172,533,4,11941,66,31,5171,27,279],"class_list":{"0":"post-129854","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-toronto-maple-leafs","8":"tag-dakota-joshua-trade","9":"tag-hockey","10":"tag-jack-roslovic","11":"tag-maple-leafs","12":"tag-mapleleafs","13":"tag-mitch-marner","14":"tag-nhl","15":"tag-nhl-free-agents","16":"tag-toronto","17":"tag-toronto-maple-leafs","18":"tag-torontomapleleafs","19":"tag-vancouver-canucks","20":"tag-wayne-gretzky"},"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/channels.im\/@nhl\/114872003185004164","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nhl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/129854","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nhl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nhl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nhl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nhl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=129854"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nhl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/129854\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nhl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/129855"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nhl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=129854"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nhl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=129854"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nhl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=129854"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}