The Canucks made two huge splashes in a span of a few hours. First, sending JT Miller to the New York Rangers. Then flipping the first round pick they acquired from the Rangers to the Pittsburgh Penguins for defenceman Marcus Pettersson and Drew O’Connor. You might be confused on what the Canucks are doing. I don’t blame you, it’s a lot to take in. I’ve got you covered so don’t worry.
Welcoming Marcus Pettersson to the Vancouver Canucks! pic.twitter.com/w9WTXZY6yn
— Vancouver Canucks (@Canucks) February 1, 2025
The Canucks needed another defenceman badly. Quinn Hughes is playing 24:15 minutes a night. Which is way too much and you can see it’s starting to affect him. Outside of Filip Hronek the Canucks blueline is very bleak. We all thought Carson Soucy was going to be the same player he was last year and he hasn’t even come close to that. So what does Patrick Alvin do? Something he’s done before. Flip a first round pick that he just got for a top four defenseman. When he did it the first time, trading the first round pick he got from the New York Islanders after trading Bo Horvat, Canucks fans were not happy. This time it makes a lot more sense and I love this move.
This is a move that a team who wants to make a deep playoff run makes. A team with Stanley Cup aspirations makes. The Canucks already have Hughes and Hronek they need another player who can play big minutes who is also very good defensively. That’s exactly what Pettersson is. Look at any team who’s won the Stanley Cup. What’s one thing they have in common? They all have great defence cores. You know what they say defence wins championships. Adding Pettersson to this defence core will help this team immensely in the long run.
Especially in the playoffs, when you have to play players like McDavid, Mackinnon and Kaprizov. Quinn Hughes can’t play half the game in the postseason. Pettersson will help eat some of those minutes while stopping some of the game’s elite players. Another thing that would help is if Carson Soucy can return to form. Soucy was the teams best defenceman not named Hughes or Hronek last year and was a big reason for the Canucks success. If he can find that form again the Canucks defence will get a massive boast.
This move also tells me that Patrick Alvin believes in his team. The Canucks are at the point of trading draft picks for assets for deep playoff runs and I love that.The time to win is now. I know that this season hasn’t been the greatest. But just wait, the best is yet to come and I think this team is going to turn this ship around.