Canucks continue trade-heavy night by acquiring Pettersson, O'Connor from Penguins
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The Vancouver Canucks continued their busy Friday night by completing a trade with the Pittsburgh Penguins to acquire defenceman Marcus Pettersson and forward Drew O'Connor.
Pittsburgh received forwards Danton Heinen and Melvin Fernstrom, defenceman Vincent Desharnais and a conditional first-round draft pick in the 2025 NHL Draft.
That conditional draft pick is the pick Vancouver received in their deal earlier on Friday with the Rangers that sent star forward J.T. Miller to New York.
Pettersson, 28, has three goals and 18 points in 47 games with the Penguins this year, his seventh with the team.
“Moving two long-time Penguins is never an easy decision,” said Pittsburgh general manager Kyle Dubas. “Marcus and Drew have competed day-in and day-out for the organization since the day they arrived. Both players are high-quality people, highly competitive players and zero maintenance for their fellow teammates and the staff of the Penguins.”
O'Connor has spent the last five seasons in Pittsburgh since he was signed as an undrafted free agent. He has six goals and 16 points in 53 games this season.
The acquisition of the conditional 2025 first-round pick gives the Penguins 29 selections over the next three NHL drafts, which includes four first-round picks and 15 choices over the first three rounds. No team has more draft picks, or selections in the first three rounds, over the next three NHL Drafts than Pittsburgh.
“Tonight’s trade continues to move us in the direction set one year ago which is to continue to add young prospects, young players, and draft capital to the Penguins as we chart our course to return the club back into contention as urgently as possible,” said Dubas.
“We are pleased to add Heinen back to the Penguins and Desharnais to the club and look forward to seeing both in uniform in the coming days. The addition of Fernstrom also gives us a prospect that was highly regarded at the 2024 NHL Draft, and the Rangers’ first-round draft pick provides us with another strong asset that we can use to acquire an elite young player in the draft or via trade.”
Desharnais, 28, has three assists in 34 games with the Canucks this season. Heinen, 29, spent two seasons with the Penguins from 2021-23, and has six goals and 18 points in 51 games with Vancouver this year. The Langley, BC native has 93 goals and 230 points over 538 NHL games spanning 10 seasons with the Boston Bruins, Anaheim Ducks, Penguins and Canucks.
More to come.