Why Marcus Pettersson’s contract with the Canucks is a fair deal for both sides

The Vancouver Canucks did not waste any time locking up defenseman Marcus Pettersson. Less than a week after acquiring the lanky blueliner from the Pittsburgh Penguins, the Canucks announced they’ve extended Pettersson on a six-year contract, worth $5.5 million AAV.

Familiarity played a major role in Vancouver, as president Jim Rutherford and GM Patrik Allvin know Pettersson well from their days together running the Pittsburgh Penguins. Rutherford acquired Pettersson in 2018-19 from the Anaheim Ducks, and the Skelleftea, Sweden native would go on to spend parts of seven seasons as a Penguin.

In Vancouver, Pettersson is the defensive stopper who the Canucks hope will complement Quinn Hughes’ game on the team’s second pair. And, with the salary cap going up, $5.5 million AAV should be much easier to swallow moving forward.

On Thursday’s episode of Daily Faceoff LIVE, Tyler Yaremchuk and Frank Seravalli discussed Pettersson’s new contract and how it’s a great deal for both sides.

Yaremchuk: Let’s go to Vancouver, and quickly after trading away J.T Miller, the Canucks flip the first-round pick, and get Marcus Pettersson. They beef up their blueline, Frank. Last night they announced a six-year contract extension for their newly acquired defenseman. Pettersson gets a $5.5 million AAV on the deal, first thoughts surface level on this one, Frank. What do you think of the Canucks locking him up?

Seravalli: I think a fair deal for both sides. I was asked on Vancouver radio yesterday morning what I though a perspective deal could look like, my guess was five years, at $5.5 million AAV. So, they stretch a little bit on the term. The AAV at five years, would have been closer to the $5.8 million range.

So, they’re able to keep the AAV down at that $5.5 million range, and we’ll see. Let’s see what kind of impact Pettersson has on this defense core. The Vancouver Canucks are obviously thrilled with the transaction. They’re excited to have him locked up. It does change the perspective of the deal, no longer trading for a rental. This is someone that is part of your future plans.

I’m just really curious to see what kind of role he ends up in. In terms of how much he can change the complexion of this Vancouver team. Seemingly, it’s been at either side of the poll, and that could be expected in the world that we live in, where it’s either right, or left, depending on how you look at it.

Pettersson is either on one hand a shut down top-5 defenseman in the entire NHL, or, he’s a #5 defenseman. There’s a lot of ground between here and there. But, I tend to believe that -yes, he’s much closer to a #4 or #5.

For more on the Canucks’ pre-trade deadline plans, and all the very latest trade buzz from around the NHL, watch the full episode below.