The Vancouver Canucks continue to make news. This time, the Canucks signed newly acquired defenseman Marcus Pettersson to a new six-year contract worth $33 million. Pettersson’s new AAV will be $5.5 million.
Vancouver Canucks General Manager Patrik Allvin announced today that the club has agreed to terms with defenceman Marcus Pettersson on a six-year contract extension with a $5.5M AAV. pic.twitter.com/cyafoUM5Xg
— Vancouver Canucks (@Canucks) February 6, 2025
As part of the deal, Pettersson will have a full no-trade/no-movement clause in the first three years of the deal. In the final three years of the deal, he has a 15-team no-trade clause. Pettersson will also get $10 million in signing bonuses in the final four years of the deal.
The #Canucks Marcus Pettersson 6 year $5.5M Cap Hit extension:
Yr 1 6M Salary
Yr 2 4.5M Sal
Yr 3 3.5M Sal & 2.5M Signing Bonus
Yr 4 3.5M & 2.5M SB
Yr 5 3.5M & 2.5M SB
Yr 6 2M & 2.5M SBYears 1-3 No Move , Year 4-6 15 team No Trade
Rep’d by Peter Wallenhttps://t.co/vjYdLb6dDs
— PuckPedia (@PuckPedia) February 6, 2025
This deal was done pretty quickly. Remember, the Canucks had been looking for a top-four defenseman since the beginning of the season to pair with Filip Hronek behind Quinn Hughes. Vancouver got that defenseman after acquiring a first-round pick (top-13), which was protected as part of the trade that saw J.T. Miller go to the New York Rangers for Filip Chytil and Victor Mancini.
NHL Trade: The Vancouver Canucks Trade J.T. Miller to the New York Rangers
Soon after, President Jim Rutherford and General Manager Patrik Allvin used that first-round pick as part of a package to acquire Pettersson and Drew O’Connor from the Pittsburgh Penguins. So like in years past, the Canucks made early trades and signed a player to an extension prior to the NHL Trade Deadline.
Even though Marcus Pettersson played in a couple of games for the Canucks, he has been impressed with the organization. It helped Vancouver was willing to move quickly on an extension.
Marcus Pettersson agent Peter Wallen : I am super impressed with Canucks management, we moved quickly, Marcus was impressed with Vancouver, there was no hesitation from him.
— Rick Dhaliwal (@DhaliwalSports) February 6, 2025
General Manager Patrik Allvin, in a press release: “In just a couple of games, Marcus has already shown us the type of leadership, poise and character that we want in a top-four defenseman. He has a calming influence on the ice, uses his long reach and hockey smarts to break up plays and has a good first pass to help us create more offensively. We are extremely happy to get this deal done and look forward to working with him in both the short term and long term.”
NHL Rumors: Is Elias Pettersson Still Available as the Canucks Reshape Roster
Pettersson was an unrestricted free agent at the end of the season. He was in the final year of a five-year deal that carried an AAV of $4.026 million a season. With Pettersson being one of the top five defensive defensemen in the league, you knew he would get a pay raise.
Marcus Pettersson, signed to a 6x$5.5M extension by VAN, is a two-way defender who has performed well on top four and top pairs in the past. Has flexed more offence and puck-moving this year but has generally been more of a stabilizing (but not physical) complementary presence. pic.twitter.com/qw1o6vzig9
— JFresh (@JFreshHockey) February 6, 2025
There were a lot of teams calling the Pittsburgh Penguins and GM Kyle Dubas before the Canucks pulled the trigger after shipping out Miller. The trade for Pettersson and giving up the first-round pick is more palatable now that he is signed to the extension.
In addition, Marcus Pettersson’s AAV is $500,000 more than what Nikita Zadorov signed for with the Boston Bruins on a six-year deal.
It will be interesting to see what the Canucks do next.