Vancouver Canucks general manager Patrik Allvin announced on Wednesday evening that the club has agreed to terms with defenceman Marcus Pettersson on a six-year, $33 million extension that pays him $5.5 million annually.
Pettersson was acquired from the Pittsburgh Penguins on Friday in a deal that also saw Drew O’Connor head out West. In exchange, Vancouver traded forward Danton Heinen, defenceman Vincent Desharnais, prospect Melvin Fernström and a 2025 top-13 protected first-round pick from the New York Rangers.
They acquired the first-round pick in the trade that sent JT Miller to the team that originally drafted him, along with two defencemen, Erik Brännström and the rights to Jackson Dorrington. Vancouver received the protected first-round pick, centreman Filip Chytil, and defensive prospect Victor Mancini.
The Swedish defenceman has played just two games with the Canucks thus far. He has played heavy minutes, logging 25:57 minutes in his debut against the Detroit Red Wings and 23:03 minutes against the Colorado Avalanche.
Through those two games, Pettersson holds an even rating, with three shots on goal, three hits and three blocked shots during his short stint with the Canucks. The 6’5″ defenceman has been paired with the 6’8″ Tyler Myers and were most recently challenged with defending the NHL’s leading point scorer, Nathan MacKinnon. The duo performed well to contain the opposing top line as the team walked away with a 3-0 victory.
The former second-round pick scored three goals and 15 assists for 18 points with a minus-2 rating through 47 games this season, averaging 22:02 minutes of ice time per game. Pettersson spent the following six seasons in Pittsburgh before finding his new home in Vancouver.
Daily Faceoff’s Frank Seravalli highlights the details of Pettersson’s contract with the Canucks.
Allvin had this to say regarding the extension with the recently acquired defenceman:
“In just a couple of games, Marcus has already shown us the type of leadership, poise and character that we want in a top four defenceman,” said Allvin. “He has a calming influence on the ice, uses his long reach and hockey smarts to break up plays and has a good first pass to help us create more offensively. We are extremely happy to get this deal done and look forward to working with him in both the short term and long term.”
Less than a week after they traded for him, management gets Pettersson locked up long-term on a six-year deal worth $5.5 million per season.