The Vancouver Canucks have made a series of trades in the last week that included sending the disgruntled J.T. Miller to the New York Rangers for Filip Chytil while also acquiring Drew O'Connor and Marcus Pettersson from the Pittsburgh Penguins in exchange for Danton Heinen and Vincent Desharnais.
Could the Canucks already be looking to extend the relationship with the newly-acquired O'Connor and Pettersson? According to The Fourth Period, contract discussions are reportedly set to begin next week.
Canucks general manager Patrik Allvin has already indicated that Pettersson is excited to be joining the Canucks and that it's a “priority” to get him signed.
“I have not talked to Marcus’ agent. We were travelling today. We just exchanged texts,” Allvin told reporters on Saturday. “It's definitely a priority for us to get him signed. I know Marcus is extremely excited. I think Jim mentioned that he traded for him previously, and Sergei Gonchar worked with him in Pittsburgh, so there is a lot of familiarities with Marcus here.”
Not only is Rutherford already familiar with Pettersson, but he also knows O'Connor from when he was an executive with the Penguins.
Pettersson is in the final season of a five-year, $20,125,875 contract he signed with the Penguins that carries a cap hit of $4,025,175, while O'Connor is in the final season of a two-year, $1.850 million contract with a cap hit of $925,000.
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The Canucks made a pair of major moves in the last week
As previously stated, the Canucks made a series of major moves in the last week that included the acquisitions of Pettersson and O'Connor from the Penguins as well as the acquisition of Chytil from the New York Rangers in exchange for the disgruntled J.T. Miller.
“We had to give up something to get him, but Marcus is one heck of a defenseman,” Rutherford said. “I traded for him when I was in Pittsburgh, and I’m very happy with how that one turned out. I traded Daniel Sprong for him, and I can still remember people saying, ‘How on earth can you trade Daniel Sprong for this guy?’ Well, I’m pretty darn happy with how that worked out.
The Canucks are next in action on Tuesday night at Rogers Arena, hosting the Colorado Avalanche.
