The Vancouver Canucks have extended newly acquired defenceman Marcus Pettersson to a six-year contract worth 5.5 million dollars. Pettersson was acquired in a trade with the Pittsburgh Penguins on Friday, Just a few hours after the Canucks shipped JT Miller off to the New York Rangers. Pettersson who is 28 was set to become an unrestricted free agent this summer. After the Canucks traded for him, it was clear that re-signing Pettersson was a priority. In just two games Pettersson has played really well and has come just as advertised. He is very solid defensively and can play big minutes. He is averaging 24:30 in the two games he’s played in a Canuck uniform this season.
Vancouver Canucks General Manager Patrik Allvin announced today that the club has agreed to terms with defenceman Marcus Pettersson on a six-year contract extension with a $5.5M AAV. pic.twitter.com/cyafoUM5Xg
— Vancouver Canucks (@Canucks) February 6, 2025
General manager Patrick Alvin had this to say about the Pettersson extension. “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, 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.”
Personally I love the move. Extending Pettersson was absolutely vital for the Canucks moving forward. With the defences play this year it was clear that they needed to add another top-four defenceman to the core. Trading for Pettersson solved that problem and extending him was a bonus. Especially for only 5.5 million dollars. In a day where the cap is going up and defenseman come as a premium. Keeping Pettersson around for the long term is a huge positive for the Canucks.