Elliotte Friedman Says Columbus And Carolina Were More Than Close To A Trade For The Fourth Overall Pick

After the first round of the Upper Deck NHL Draft, Don Waddell spoke to the media. He said, "We had a deal we would have taken if Cayden wasn't available." Rumors that Carolina and Chicago were aggressively trying to get the number four pick were everywhere, but Waddell confirmed that Lindstrom was their guy. 

Late on Saturday night, Elliotte Friedman put out a quick podcast and had some things to say about the possible trade between Columbus and Carolina. 

Friedman said about the trade, "I do think there were very serious conversations between Columbus and Carolina about the number four pick. I do think the Hurricanes made Nečas a contract offer, with permission. Obviously, it didn't get done. Columbus was happy to keep the pick."

Friedman confirmed with THN Columbus that Martin Nečas had permission to talk to Columbus. In the end, the deal didn't happen, for now.

With Nečas talking with the Blue Jackets and an offer supposedly being made, it's obvious that the two sides have an interest in each other. Don Waddell didn't draft Nečas, but he did re-sign him to a 2-year, $6 million contract in 2022.

So could a deal still get done? Don Waddell has plenty of options, most notably trading Patrik Laine and his $8,700,000 per season contract. Even retaining some of that contract would help to sign Nečas.

Friedman also mentioned that he's not sure if Carolina would want to or not, but with Jake Guentzel seemingly out of the picture for the Hurricanes, would they want to keep Nečas instead of shipping him off? 

With one day left until the start of the free agent frenzy, be prepared for chaos. 

What do you think? Please share your thoughts on our forum.

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