Marcus Pettersson, NHL's biggest trade target?

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Many could be interested in Penguin defender

After another disappointing start, the Pittsburgh Penguins have made no secret around the league that they are open to trading away veteran players. Lars Eller was sent to Washington for a pair of draft picks. More will follow. GM Kyle Dubas talked more about the team's strategy and what his outlook is for where the team stands on his radio show.

"I'm a firm believer that if you throw everything overboard, you really have to be careful what you wish for, because you could go a long time before you're back to being a competitive and contending team," Dubas said. "So, our focus is on trying to, as I always say, as urgently as possible bring in (what we can) using whatever means we have."

Currently, it's a lot of draft capital—10 picks in 2025 and 2027, along with nine in 2026. They can use it to draft players, acquire prospects, and be in the mix whenever good young players become available.

"Previously, I don't think that's been the position here. So, we just have to keep at it," Dubas said. "I understand that can bring with it a lot of criticism and angst, but we're steadfast in our plan and vision for the team, and that's what we're going to execute every day."

The biggest piece left for the Pens to flip to recoup some future assets is the player who happens to be tops on Daily Faceoff's trading board, Marcus Pettersson.

Scoop: Since the Penguins are open for business, Pettersson is one of the few players on the roster with real trade value. He's in the final year of his deal at a reasonable cap number and he plays a solid enough game to be a reliable No. 4 defenseman. Where Pettersson struggles, with the puck on the breakout making a solid first pass, will limit his market in some ways. And the Pens only have one retained salary transaction remaining, so GM Kyle Dubas will need to be judicious in selecting which contract he'll retain on.

Not sure some of that analysis is accurate — after all Pettersson finished 32nd among NHL defensemen last year in ES points, and he currently has eight assists in 21 games. Be it in the offensive zone or coming up the ice on a breakout, he can make a pass.

But that speaks to the narrative-driven version of events around a defensive defenseman that makes league-wide perception a reality. Pettersson isn't a dynamic offensive player and statements like the above show a fairly common belief or accepted story to get spread that he can't breakout the puck.

That said, keen scouting should reverse that notion fairly quickly. Pettersson always grades well when observers take the time to get to know his steady and effective game. This is only the third season where he has been trusted to play 20+ minutes in a top-four role, but even then the Pittsburgh coaching was late adapters when it came to trusting a player who regularly put up impressive numbers.

Daily Faceoff included several other top-four defenders in their trade targets as mentioned in their tweet header, which also could make for an interesting negotiation and trade value for Pettersson if players like Ivan Prorovov, Cam Fowler and Mario Ferraro are available for top teams to consider instead.

It's been reported the Pens have had almost no talk with Pettersson on a contract extension, very similar to how Dubas handled the Jake Guentzel situation last year as another impending free agent at the peak of his earning career.

All signs point to Pettersson ending his Pittsburgh career like Guentzel in a trade, but the question now is when that would be. An acquiring team benefits from time passing, it allows them to bank up space with the salary cap calculating every day on a prorated basis to it Pettersson and his $4.025 million salary in. As mentioned, the Pens could opt to retain up to 50% of that amount in order to help facilitate the deal. Pittsburgh could also take back some salary on expiring deals to further even the score financially.

Josh Yohe from The Athletic noted that Vancouver and Edmonton were among the interested parties in Pettersson. The Canucks brain-trust of Jim Rutherford, Patrik Allvin and coach Rick Tocchet know the player in great detail, and Rutherford has a hallmark of making major moves as early as possible. Pittsburgh holds the keys as far as when they want to finalize the transaction and for how much but while the timing still remains up in the air it is looking increasingly likely the Pens will be bolstering their young assets by trading off Pettersson before the March trade deadline.