The Vancouver Canucks traded forward J.T. Miller to the New York Rangers prior to their game against the Dallas Stars, but that wasn’t the only move that they made today. Shortly after the game, Vancouver announced that they made a deal with the Pittsburgh Penguins for defenceman Marcus Pettersson and forward Drew O’Connor. In return, the Canucks sent the first-round selection they acquired no more than five hours ago to Pittsburgh along with defenceman Vincent Desharnais, forward Danton Heinen, and the rights to forward Melvin Fernström.
Desharnais was signed as a free agent in the offseason, brought in to help repair a blueline missing Nikita Zadorov and Ian Cole. This experiment didn’t end up working out, however, as the 6’7 defender only played 34 games for Vancouver and tallied three assists. He averaged 15:58 minutes per game in his time with the Canucks.
Heinen was also a free-agent signing made by Vancouver. The Langley, BC native played in 51 games with the Canucks, scoring six goals and netting 12 assists in that span of time. Predominantly known for his penalty-killing, Heinen averaged 13:58 minutes on ice for his hometown team and exits Vancouver after putting up one assist in the team’s Friday-night defeat. This will be his second stint with the Penguins, as he previously played for Pittsburgh from 2021 to 2023.
Fernström was picked 93rd overall in the 2024 NHL Draft after a 45-game, 63-point campaign with Örebro HK of J20 Nationell. This season, with the same club, he has tallied an impressive 11 goals and seven assists in 12 games played. The 18-year-old right-shot sniper’s rights now belong to Pittsburgh as a result of the trade.
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Pettersson makes his journey to Vancouver after ample speculation that the Canucks would trade for him sometime this season. The defenceman has three goals and 15 assists in 47 games played with the Penguins, and is known for his skills in moving the puck. It’s important to note that Pettersson’s five-year, $4.025M contract ends after this season.
#Canucks needed depth. You could feel it in Dallas tonight. Too many players unlikely to make productive touches or plays that lead to winning.
Pettersson and O’Connor can be those guys, but the price is very steep for two expiring contracts.
— Thomas Drance (@ThomasDrance) February 1, 2025
O’Connor is the final piece of the team’s second trade of the night. He has spent his entire five-season NHL career with the Penguins, putting up 30 goals and 36 assists in 210 games played as a part of Pittsburgh. In this season, he has 16 points in 53 games. Like Pettersson, the forward’s two-year contract expires at the end of this season.
With both trades occurring tonight, it’s likely that new additions Filip Chytil, Victor Mancini, Pettersson, and O’Connor will make their Canucks debuts on Sunday against the Detroit Red Wings. Puck drop for this game is scheduled for 5:00 pm PT.
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