The Pittsburgh Penguins have traded defenceman Marcus Pettersson and forward Drew O’Connor to the Vancouver Canucks for forward Danton Heinen, defenceman Vincent Desharnais, the rights to 2024 third-round pick Melvin Fernstrom, and the conditional 2025 first-round pick that the Canucks received in the J.T. Miller trade earlier Friday.
Full deal:
Marcus Pettersson and Drew O’Connor from PIT to VCR for Danton Heinen, Vincent Desharnais, Melvin Fernstrom and the first-rounder acquired tonight from the Rangers— Elliotte Friedman (@FriedgeHNIC) February 1, 2025
The deal took place following Vancouver’s 5-3 loss to the Dallas Stars that saw the Canucks record 29 shots in a losing effort. The Canucks are -154 to make the playoffs and with the new additions to their backend and bottom six as well as their additions from the J.T. Miller trade could give this team a very different look and may not present odds this low again.
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The Penguins are seemingly open for sale and this trade could be the first one of many. They have an over/under set at 80.5 points and are top 12 in hardest strength of schedules to end of the season, which could make the under a promising bet.
Pettersson will be looked at as the biggest part of this deal as he is a pending unrestricted free agent and will join Vancouver where he will share his last name with two other Canucks in the two Elias’s but Marcus will stand out with his style of play. The 29-year-old Swedish blueliner was a workhorse for a bad Penguins backend with an average time on ice of 22:03 and played great defensively with just a -2 rating despite being on the second-worst defence in the league with a 3.57 goals against average. He’s also found the back of the net three times with 15 assists for 18 points in 47 games played this season.
O’Connor, 26, will be a significant piece going to Vancouver as a hard working depth forward that makes his presence felt with his aggression and effort. The New Jersey native finished with 33 points last season and likely gained valuable experience playing on a line with legendary centre Evgeni Malkin for most of the season as well as few apperances on the top line with captain Sidney Crosby.
The Penguins will reinsert Danton Heinen back into their forward group after having the 29-year-old BC native from 2021-23 in mainly a depth forward role. Heinen has been a career 20-40 point player and should continue to fulfil that role on the Penguins, where he recorded 26 goals and 29 assists for 55 points in 141 games played.
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Desharnais, 28, should add a physical element to the Penguins blueline withthree or more hits in four of his last nine games, totalling in 54 hits this season. He was on the Oilers joining their run to the Stanley Cup Finals last season and played a pivitoal role, keeping up with the physicality of other teams. He signed with the Canucks in the off-season and has played a consistent 15 minutes like he did on the Oilers.
A player with some upside in this deal is Fernstrom, who was the Canucks third-round pick this past off-season and has done well in the Swedish junior league, J20 Nationell, with 11 goals and seven assists for 18 points in 12 games.
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