VANCOUVER — The Vancouver Canucks wasted little time before locking up their newest defenceman.
Vancouver signed recently acquired blueliner Marcus Pettersson to a six-year, US$33-million contract extension on Wednesday.
“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,” Canucks general manager Patrik Allvin said in a statement. “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.”
The Canucks traded for Pettersson and forward Drew O'Connor in a deal with the Pittsburgh Penguins on Friday night.
Vancouver gave up forward Danton Heinen, defenceman Vincent Desharnais, the rights to forward Melvin Fernstrom and a 2025 conditional first-round pick from the New York Rangers.
The Canucks acquired the Rangers' pick hours earlier when they dealt star forward J.T. Miller to New York.
Pettersson, who was a pending unrestricted free agent, has three goals and 15 assists in 49 games this season, including two with the Canucks.
The 28-year-old played a season-high 25:57 in his Vancouver debut on Feb. 2, a 3-2 overtime loss to Detroit. He followed it up with 23:03 of ice time in Vancouver's 3-0 win over Colorado on Tuesday.
The six-foot-five, 174-pound Swede has recorded 151 points and 294 penalty minutes in 493 NHL games split between the Canucks, Penguins and Anaheim Ducks.
The Ducks drafted Pettersson in the second round, 38th overall, of the 2014 NHL draft.
This report by The Canadian Press was first published Feb. 5, 2025.
The Canadian Press
