Lehkonen was almost part of a much bigger deal before being traded to Colorado on Monday

Now that the trade deadline has passed, various informants from the Bettman circuit are taking the liberty of unpacking their bags and revealing some interesting information.

Yesterday, Sportsnet's Elliotte Friedman reported that the Edmonton Oilers (who acquired Brett Kulak on Monday) were also very interested in acquiring Artturi Lehkonen. They have made several fairly aggressive offers to Kent Hughes.

Remember that before confirming the Brett Kulak trade to the Oilers (for William Lagesson and a second round pick), there was a good delay. We learn that it is quite possible that Edmonton GM Ken Holland tried to include Lehkonen in a bigger deal. (They really liked the Finn.

When we see the price paid by the Avalanche to acquire the services of the former number 62 of the Canadiens, we quickly realize that Edmonton should have offered something like :


Xavier Bourgault + William Lagesson + Second round pick + Second round pick, against Artturi Lehkonen and Brett Kulak.

Obviously, they weren't willing to pay such a price and we know what happened next. In the end, the CH got very interesting returns for Lehkonen, and for Kulak.

It's always intriguing to have this kind of information on the discussions behind the scenes.