The Canucks are overflowing with Petterssons.
The current Vancouver general manager inherited one (“Petey”), drafted one (“Petey-D”), and traded for another.
All of his Swedish countrymen bring value, the newest one being veteran left-shot defenceman Marcus, acquired from the Pittsburgh Penguins last week.
Former Rangers center Filip Chytil could work out to some degree, and needs to, but the best thing to come out of the J.T. Miller turmoil and the multi-team transaction that moved along the American centre, would be this third Pettersson.
The Canucks obviously agree, having signed the 28-year-old to a six-year deal for $5.5-million per season just four days after he was acquired.
Speaking of General Manager Patrik Allvin, he’s very familiar with Pettersson’s work from their time together in the Penguins organization, where the D-man played since 2018 and Allvin worked in scouting and management since 2006.
The executive would have been very familiar with the defenseman’s game since juniors.
The Canucks needed legitimate D-depth and they got it with a veteran just six regular season games short of 500 for his NHL career. He slots in the top four and he’s a penalty killer, a welcome addition to a group ranked 17th in the league.
Don’t get too worked up about his recent analytics; he’s coming from a Pittsburgh team that’s given up the second most goals in the NHL this season. He’s not a hit machine with his lanky 6-foot-5 frame, but then again he’s not at all afraid.
His single season career high in points is the 30 he generated last year. He’s calm, he moves pucks.
Bottom line, he’s an upgrade from the big D-man they sent packing, Vincent Desharnais, and a solid addition to the corps.
Just don’t call him Petey.
