Penguins’ GM Dubas trades pending UFAs Pettersson/O’Connor; hits a homerun with the return

By Justin Sobieralski

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We are still a few weeks away from the NHL’s trade deadline (March 7th at 3pm), but on Friday, January 31st , there were two blockbuster trades, both by the Vancouver Canucks. Earlier in the day, Vancouver traded away forward JT Miller, among other assets, to the New York Rangers. As part of the return for Miller, the Canucks received the Rangers’ 2025 conditional first round pick.

A few hours later, Vancouver was part of another blockbuster trade, this time involving Pittsburgh. Penguins’ General Manager, Kyle Dubas, sent his biggest trade piece, defenseman Marcus Pettersson, along with forward Drew O’Connor (both are pending unrestricted free agents), to the Canucks. The biggest piece of Pittsburgh’s return from Vancouver was the Rangers’ 2025 conditional first round pick. The same first round pick they received just hours earlier as part of the JT Miller trade.

Here is the full trade…

Pittsburgh Penguins receive:

2025 Conditional 1st Round pick – top 13 protected

Forward Danton Heinen (former Penguin)

Defenseman Vincent Desharnais

Forward Melvin Fernström (2024 3rd round pick)

Vancouver Canucks receive:

Defenseman Marcus Pettersson

Forward Drew O’Connor

Many pundits grade the trade as helpful to both teams, with the Penguins securing what they’ve been searching for at the deadline—high end draft capital. Vancouver may have slightly overpaid but ultimately, this is a smart hockey trade for both organizations.

I was convinced the Penguins would only get a second-round pick with some prospects, similar to the Jake Guentzel deal last season. But a first round pick? It would’ve had to have been a team with intimate knowledge of the player(s) to make that level of a deal. Otherwise, no. Not because Pettersson isn’t worth a first, but every club knows what the Penguins are trying to do, land extra draft picks, prospects, and get younger at the NHL level.

This may be why Dubas moved Pettersson this far out from the trade deadline. No other team was going to offer a first round pick, two NHL players, and young prospect. Dubas did right by his team, even though Pettersson and O’Connor were liked in the Penguins’ locker room.

Historically, this is a typical Jim Rutherford/Patrik Allvin type trade. Rutherford loves making splash moves long before the trade deadline hits and has loved Pettersson ever since he traded for him as the Penguins GM some years back. It is not surprising that he, and Allvin, knew what kind of player Pettersson is. He’s a smart, top four defenseman that can log a ton of minutes. This move sures up the Canucks defense. O’Connor has struggled putting up points this season, but he does bring some size, speed, and potential depth scoring, which Vancouver also needs.

As with any trade, especially ones that involve future draft picks and prospects, the team receiving the best player usually appears to be the winner out of the gate. It’s up to the team receiving future assets to make the most out of it. With that being said, this trade checks off all of Kyle Dubas’ boxes.

The Penguins cannot stop there. Expect more moves as the deadline nears. A quick peak at others that may depart in return for future value include soon-to-be unrestricted free agent forwards Matt Nieto, Anthony Beauvillier, newly acquired Danton Heinen (who becomes a UFA after the 2025-26 season and possibly veteran Kevin Hayes. Defenseman Matt Grzelcyk also becomes an unrestricted free agent at season’s end.

There is talk that the Pens may also be willing to part with goaltender Alex Nedeljkovic if a team is looking for a quality backup. At the very least, the Penguins should consider starting Joel Blomqvist in the majority of the remaining games to see what they have with him.

So what about resurgent forward Rickard Rakell? He’s found his scoring touch again, netting 23 goals in just 53 games this year after only scoring 15 goals all of last season. His stock will likely never be any higher than it is right now and with a salary cap hit of $5.00 million per year (per Puckpedia.com) a team might be baited into securing an additional top 6 forward, depending on the finer points of any deal.

Yes, Dubas has had a few swings and misses so far; signing both Ryan Graves and Tristan Jarry to long term deals. But he’s hit homeruns with the Guentzel trade, and another this past Friday with the Pettersson/O’Connor move.

In case you’re wondering, the Penguins have 15 picks in the first three rounds over the next three NHL drafts (Per Puckpedia.com). That’s impressive.

Let’s hope Dubas hits more homeruns than strikes out over the next few seasons. His organization is depending on it.