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Canucks Sign Marcus Pettersson To Six-Year Extension

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The Canucks wasted little time getting pen to paper on a deal with one of their new acquisitions.  The team announced that they’ve signed defenseman Marcus Pettersson to a six-year extension that will carry a cap charge of $5.5MM.  GM Patrik Allvin released the following statement:

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 defenceman,” said Allvin. “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.

Of course, Allvin’s familiarity with the 28-year-old is much more than just a couple of games.  He was with Pittsburgh at the time that then-GM Jim Rutherford (who now is in Vancouver’s front office) acquired him so they are quite familiar with what Pettersson brings to the table.  That familiarity undoubtedly played a role in the Canucks flipping the first-round pick they acquired in the J.T. Miller trade last week (along with Danton Heinen, Vincent Desharnais, and Melvin Fernstrom) to Pittsburgh for Pettersson and Drew O’Connor.

Pettersson has played in 49 games this season between Pittsburgh and Vancouver, potting three goals and 15 assists along with 86 blocks and 60 hits while logging more than 22 minutes a night of ice time.  That has him at a 30-point pace which would match his career-high offensively from last season; that uptick in production certainly didn’t hurt his value as he was heading toward his first run at unrestricted free agency this summer which is now on hold for a long time.

For his career, Pettersson has played in 493 NHL games over parts of eight seasons between Anaheim, Pittsburgh, and now Vancouver.  After struggling early in his tenure with the Penguins, he has since established himself as a legitimate top-four blueliner for the last three years.  That track record was good enough for Vancouver to target him and waste little time locking him up through the 2030-31 season.

The deal represents a nice raise for Pettersson.  He’s in the final year of a five-year contract signed back in 2020, one that carries a cap hit of just over $4MM.  He’ll add nearly $1.5MM per season to that number now while also landing some extra security.  David Pagnotta of The Fourth Period reports (Twitter link) that Pettersson will have a full no-move clause in the first three seasons of the contract.  In the final three years, his trade protection will come in the form of a 15-team no-trade clause.

With this signing, Vancouver now has a little under $76MM in commitments for next season, per PuckPedia.  Included in that is nearly $27MM in spending on their top five blueliners with Quinn Hughes, Filip Hronek, Tyler Myers, and Carson Soucy all signed through at least 2025-26 as well with the latter now in trade speculation.  That should only intensify with Pettersson now guaranteed to be sticking around for the long haul.

Trade Deadline Primer: Calgary Flames

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With the 4 Nations Face-Off break approaching, the trade deadline looms large and is about a month away. Where does each team stand, and what moves should they be looking to make? We continue our look around the league with the Calgary Flames.

This season hasn’t quite gone as many anticipated in Calgary.  But unlike some underachieving things, not going as expected is actually a good thing.  The Flames went into the season as expected sellers but instead enter tonight’s action with a share of the final Wild Card spot in the Western Conference.  As a result, we’ve seen them make one buyers move already although they could look to play both a buying and selling role as the deadline approaches.

Record

26-20-7, T-4th in the Pacific

Deadline Status

Long-Term Buyer, Possible Short-Term Seller

Deadline Cap Space

$78.698MM on deadline day, 1/3 retention slots used, 44/50 contracts used, per PuckPedia.

Upcoming Draft Picks

2025: FLA 1st*, NJ 1st, COL 2nd, CGY 3rd, CGY 5th, CGY 6th, CGY 7th
2026: CGY 1st, VGK 1st, CGY 2nd, CGY 3rd, VAN 3rd, CGY 4th, CGY 5th, CGY 6th, CGY 7th

*-Depending on how the Draft Lottery falls, it’s possible that Florida’s first-round pick will go to Montreal in which case Calgary would keep their own.  There is also a remote chance that the pick won’t be conveyed to the Canadiens until 2026.  This is from the Sean Monahan trade in 2022.

Trade Chips

There’s a big difference between what teams want Calgary’s trade chips to be and what they’re actually going to be.  It was recently reported that the Flames have been receiving calls on top veterans Nazem Kadri, MacKenzie Weegar, and Rasmus Andersson but GM Craig Conroy has been rebuffing those efforts, telling inquiring teams that those players aren’t available.  While Andersson’s contract is up after next season, early indications are that the team believes they can get him signed to an extension.  So those players, as well as their other top ones, are off the table.

It’s not a great group of rental players for Calgary as many of the ones on shorter-term deals were moved out already over the past 13 months or so.  But one that might draw some interest is goaltender Daniel Vladar.  After undergoing hip surgery last season, he has played a bit better this season, shaving more than a half-goal off his GAA while adding six points to his save percentage.  Early on, he was platooning with top prospect Dustin Wolf but the youngster has taken full hold of the top spot now.  At $2.2MM and on an expiring deal, Vladar could be a lower-cost acquisition for a team looking for extra depth or a short-term option if one of their options goes down.  While it might seem strange for a team with playoff hopes to move a goalie, they do have one in the minors who is more than making a case for an extended look.

That player is Devin Cooley.  The 27-year-old is signed through next season at the league minimum and has been dominant with AHL Calgary this season, posting a 2.24 GAA and a .928 SV% and playing a big role in putting the Wranglers atop the Western Conference at the All-Star break.  If Vladar is moved, Cooley will likely get the chance to make a case for the full-time backup spot next season.  But it’s also possible that teams will come calling about Cooley with the intent of evaluating him for their own second-string slot next season.  The Flames would undoubtedly need another AHL goalie as part of any return but if there are teams who feel he’s NHL-ready (or want to keep their goalie costs down), he might actually have more suitors than Vladar.

Among their healthy veterans on expiring deals, the most notable ones are blueliner Tyson Barrie and center Kevin Rooney.  Barrie, on a $1.25MM deal, has been a frequent healthy scratch and his value, if there is any, would be for a late-round pick at most.  Rooney hasn’t had a great year but he can kill penalties and play with some grit.  He’s the type of late-deadline depth addition a couple of teams might consider and with a $1.3MM price tag, he’d be affordable but again, the return would be minimal.  They also have the RFA rights to Nikita Okhotyuk, the 24-year-old playing in the KHL but has 67 career NHL games under his belt.  If Calgary wants to add a low-cost addition, he’s someone they could potentially dangle instead of parting with a draft pick or prospect.  But all things considered, if the Flames aren’t selling, they don’t have much in the way of physical trade options to work with.

But they do have cap space.  More than any other team than Columbus, in fact.  Conroy might be able to add some extra draft picks by taking on an expiring contract or being a third-party retainer to facilitate another team’s trade.  If they don’t do anything goaltending-wise, their open cap space might be their best chip to play.

Team Needs

Left-Shot Top-Four Defenseman: Usually, it’s the right side of the back end that teams often need to upgrade at.  But with Weegar in the fold long-term and the Flames believing they can re-sign Andersson, that side should be in good shape for a while.  (One of their top prospects, Zayne Parekh, also shoots from the right.)  But the left side isn’t anywhere near as secure.  Jake Bean, Kevin Bahl (currently injured), and Joel Hanley are among those who have seen top-four time on the left side of the back end and that’s not a core group of a contender.  If Conroy wants to make a short-term buyer move, adding a rental who can fill that void would go a long way.  Failing that, it will be near the top of their to-do list over the summer.

Continue Growing Young Core: Conroy has talked before about wanting to add more players around the same age as some of their younger core group.  That played a role in their recent pickups of Morgan Frost (25) and Joel Farabee (24) while also leveraging some of their financial flexibility.  It’s fair to say that a longer-term roster goal will be to try to continue to add players around that age.  Those generally don’t move too often in-season but expect Calgary to kick the tires on more moves like their recent one with Philadelphia.

Photo courtesy of Imagn Images.

Ryan Hartman To Appeal Ten-Game Suspension

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Wild forward Ryan Hartman had until today to decide if he’d file an appeal of the ten-game suspension handed down by the league on Monday.  He has elected to do so as the NHLPA announced (Twitter link) that they have filed an appeal on Hartman’s behalf today.

The incident occurred on Saturday versus Ottawa.  Off a faceoff, Hartman drove Tim Stutzle face-first into the ice.  He received a match penalty on the play and after being offered an in-person hearing, was given the ten-game ban, the fifth suspension of his career.  As a result, he forfeits more than $487K in salary as he qualifies under the repeat offender (meaning he’s fined ten games’ play, not ten days’ pay).

Hartman will remain under suspension during the appeal process.  While it often takes longer than the duration of the appeal for it to be heard (meaning the appeal is primarily an attempt to recover some of the lost wages), that might not be the case for Hartman.  With the NHL heading for a break next week due to the 4 Nations Face-Off, it’s quite possible the appeal will be heard during that time when he’ll have only missed three of the ten games.

This appeal will be heard by Commissioner Gary Bettman whose role will be to determine whether the decision was supported by clear and convincing evidence.  If Hartman’s suspension is upheld or is reduced but remains six games or longer, Hartman can further appeal to a neutral arbitrator who would then have the final say.

Blackhawks Activate Craig Smith From Injured Reserve, Assign Two To AHL

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6:20 PM: The team announced that Smith has officially been activated off IR.  They decided to make a pair of corresponding moves, sending Dach and Levshunov back to AHL Rockford.

11:22 AM: Blackhawks winger Craig Smith will return to the lineup Wednesday against the Oilers, Scott Powers of The Athletic reports. Chicago has a full active roster and will need to make a corresponding transaction to activate him from injured reserve.

Smith, 35, has missed the last 11 games with a lingering back injury that also held him out for eight games in December. The 958-game veteran is nonetheless chugging along as a serviceable fourth-liner in the Windy City, posting six goals and five assists for 11 points in 30 games when healthy while averaging 11:41 per game, his highest usage in three years.

Signed to a one-year, $1MM deal over the summer, Smith has spent nearly all of his time as the team’s fourth-line right winger with Pat Maroon on the left side and either Ryan Donato or Lukas Reichel down the middle. The latter is Chicago’s second-most-common line combination this season, and for good reason. They’ve controlled 50.4% of expected goals together, per MoneyPuck, one of three of nine Blackhawks forward lines with over 60 minutes together to be in the black.

He’ll return to that role against Edmonton, Charlie Roumeliotis of WGN Radio 720 reports. 22-year-old rookie Colton Dach, who has a goal and three assists through his first 13 NHL games, will come out of the lineup. Smith has also suited up on the Hawks’ second power-play unit at times, although only one of his 11 points have come with the man advantage.

Reassigning Dach is one of the multiple transactions the Blackhawks can make to open up a roster spot for Smith. The other likely option is demoting 2024 second-overall pick Artyom Levshunov, who the club recalled for “development purposes” on Monday but isn’t expected to see any game action.

Trade Interest Growing For Sabres’ Dylan Cozens

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Buffalo Sabres’ centerman Dylan Cozens has been at the focal point of trade rumors all season long – but the recent moves of fellow top trade candidates Mikko Rantanen, J.T. Miller, Marcus Pettersson, and Mikael Granlund have made the spotlight even hotter. Cozens now sits as one of the most desired forwards on the trade market. In addition to the Calgary Flames, who were attached to Cozens in mid-January, the Sabres are also said to be receiving interest from the Montreal Canadiens, Detroit Red Wings, and Toronto Maple Leafs, per NHL.com’s Kevin Weekes.

Cozens seems next in the line of young, productive centermen who can’t quite figure it out in Buffalo. He has just 10 goals and 26 points through 53 games. That’s an 82-game pace of just 40 points, which would continue Cozens’ slide in production over the last three seasons. He posted a career-high 31 goals and 68 points in 81 games in the 2022-23 season but fell to just 18 goals and 47 points last year. That halt in scoring has persisted despite Cozens’ role growing over the last two years. His average ice time has climbed from 16:30 in his career year to 17:30 this season – and he’s improved in his ability to win faceoffs and limit opponent shots, evidenced by a 50.4 faceoff-percentage and 49.84 Corsi-for-percentage (CF%). Cozens has shown a lot of strength as a speedy and controlled play-driver, capable of working well with his teammates when they have momentum – though Buffalo hasn’t had the chance to support his style well for much of the year.

Perhaps more notable than his stats is Cozens’ age. He’s still only 23 years old and already has one 30-goal season under his belt. He ranks ninth among all active U24 forwards in career scoring with 192 points in 333 games, in company with players like Brady Tkachuk and Cole Caufield. Those numbers are slightly skewed by Cozens breaking into the league at age 19, though his 0.58 points-per-game scoring still sits among players like Mason McTavish, Joel Farabee, Cole Perfetti, and Anton Lundell. That’s welcome company, and certainly speaks to Cozens’ future potential as he continues to find consistent scoring.

His scoring upside makes it clear why so many teams are eager to buy Cozens away from the Sabres. But the price of a trade will be harder to gauge. The similarly productive Farabee was recently traded to the Flames alongside Morgan Frost in exchange for roster player Andrei Kuzmenko, prospect Jakob Pelletier, and a second and seventh-round draft pick. That framework could help the Sabres find much-needed support for their blue-line without jeopardizing their top-six. But Cozens is one of just 39 players since 2000 to record a 30-goal season before their 22nd birthday, which could warrant a much loftier return. The Sabres were able to swap productive center Casey Mittelstadt for top, young defenseman Bowen Byram at last year’s trade deadline – accomplishing a best-of-both-worlds swap of young, high-upside players. Current trade boards don’t have a clear parallel to Cozens on the open market – perhaps Vancouver’s Elias Pettersson, if Buffalo is willing to add in a substantial premium – but the idea of swapping young forwards could still be optimal for the Sabres.

In the mix of familiar trade rumors, Buffalo’s spot in the standings haven’t changed. The Sabres rank dead-last in the Eastern Conference with a 22-26-5 record and 49 points. That’s even despite a winning uptick as of late – marked by a 6-4-0 record in their last 10 games. The acquisition of Byram has paid dividends for the Sabres early on, but it hasn’t been the boost the team needed to jump up the standings. The same can be said about their trade of Jack Eichel in 2021, which landed them difference-making forwards in Alex Tuch and, to a lesser extent, Peyton Krebs – but still hasn’t tilted the needle. Plenty of interest in Cozens should mean plenty of chance for Buffalo to find a return that’ll work best for them, but they’ll have to be diligent to find a deal that will actually support their roster climb – lest they trade another high-upside scorer well before his prime for a moot return.

Afternoon Notes: Hughes, Pederson, Puljujarvi

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A busy day across the NHL has started with bad news in Vancouver. Vancouver Canucks superstar defenseman Quinn Hughes won’t travel with the team for their Thursday matchup against the San Jose Sharks, per Sportsnet’s Brendan Batchelor. This will be Hughes’ third straight absence due to a lower-body injury. This is just a one-game road trip for Vancouver. Hughes was red hot prior to injury, with 14 points over his last 10 games and over 25 minutes of average ice time. Hughes’ absence was preceded by Vancouver’s acquisition of veteran defenseman Marcus Pettersson and rookie Victor Mancini. The Canucks still triumphed without their Norris Trophy favorite on Tuesday, beating the Colorado Avalanche 3-0. Pettersson and Tyler Myers each carried extra minutes in Hughes’ absence.

Despite coming off a win and setting up to face a last-place Sharks team, the Canucks are still going to sorely miss Hughes. He has been a force this season, currently sitting with 59 points in 47 games – a mark that leads both the Canucks and all NHL defensemen. He’s once again a favorite for the Norris Trophy, which he won last year, and an emerging candidate for the Hart Trophy as the league’s MVP. Hughes has notably played through injury this year, including a hand injury at the turn of the year. He’s still tracking for a 100-point season despite that, and will be aiming to get quickly back to that pace once his lower-body injury subsides. Hughes is currently listed as out day-to-day.

Staying in Western Canada, the Edmonton Oilers will be without depth forward Lane Pederson for the remainder of the season after he underwent a successful shoulder surgery. Pederson managed an impressive 12 points in 18 AHL games before falling to injury. He’s been a hot scorer in the minors for a few years, netting 24 points in 18 games in 2022-23 and 52 points in 66 games last year. He was rewarded with 27 NHL games in 2022-23 – split between the Vancouver Canucks and Columbus Blue Jackets – but recorded a moot six points and 26 penalty minutes. Pederson will now focus on working his way back to full health in advance of next season’s training camps, where he’ll work to climb up an NHL call-up chart.

Jumping to the East coast, the Pittsburgh Penguins have assigned forward Jesse Puljujarvi to the minor leagues. The former top-10 pick has been a healthy scratch in three of Pittsburgh’s last four games. This will be his second stint in the minor leagues, after spending a brief, three-game trip with the Wilkes-Barre/Scranton Penguins in late January. Puljujarvi recorded three points and a minus-two in the appearances – far more production than he’s managed at the NHL level, where he only has nine points in 26 appearances. The routine trips to the minor leagues are the start of a poor pattern for Puljujarvi, who joined the Penguins partway through last season in an effort to maintain his NHL career. He’s struggled to do that up to this point, and will now be tasked with trying to find his groove once again with a productive stint in the minor leagues.

Canucks Reassign Linus Karlsson, Recall Nils Åman

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The Canucks swapped depth forwards on the active roster Wednesday, reassigning Linus Karlsson to AHL Abbotsford and recalling Nils Åman in his place, per a team announcement. Their active roster remains full.

Karlsson, 25, has suited up in seven straight games for the Canucks, adding to his first two appearances of the season in December. He’s scored once in his nine combined appearances, notching a plus-one rating and eight shots on goal while averaging 9:59 per game.

The 6’1″, 178-lb forward can play both wings but has routinely skated on the right this year with Nils Höglander at left-wing and either Teddy Blueger or Elias Pettersson down the middle. His possession impacts haven’t been significant, controlling only 48.9% of shot attempts at even strength despite a 59.6 oZS%.

In the minors, the former Swedish Hockey League Rookie of the Year has produced over a point per game with Abbotsford since the beginning of last season. His 18 points in 17 games this year are good for a team-leading 1.06 per game, still ranking third with 12 goals despite his significant time spent on the NHL roster. He had 60 points in 60 AHL games last year to lead the team in scoring.

Karlsson was a third-round pick of the Sharks in 2018 but was acquired less than a year later in a swap of Swedish prospects, sending out Jonathan Dahlén the other way. He’s now in his third professional season in North America after coming over from his native Sweden in 2022.

Åman has far more NHL experience than his counterpart, skating in 116 games for the Canucks over the past three seasons. His role with the club has steadily decreased since appearing in 68 games as a rookie in 2022-23, though, and he’s spent most of the season in Abbotsford with only five NHL appearances to his name. He has two assists and a minus-three rating in that quintet of contests, averaging 10:42 per game and going 10-for-23 on faceoffs.

The 6’2″ center has seven goals and 21 assists for 28 points in 32 AHL games, leading the team in outright scoring. He and Karlsson both came over from the SHL in the same offseason, although he was signed as a free agent after the Avalanche, who selected him in the sixth round in 2020, relinquished his signing rights.

With only 12 forwards on the roster, Åman will presumably draw into the lineup Thursday against the Sharks for the first time since Nov. 9.

Wild Claim Vinnie Hinostroza From Predators, Place Jakub Lauko On IR

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Feb. 5: The Wild claimed Hinostroza off waivers, Friedman reports Wednesday. He provides some much-needed veteran forward depth with a higher offensive ceiling than they already have, with players like Ben Jones and Devin Shore being overtaxed and struggling to produce with Kirill Kaprizov’s injury and Ryan Hartman’s suspension holding them out of the lineup. With no open roster spots, winger Jakub Lauko is headed back to injured reserve with the recurring lower-body injury that’s kept him out of 21 games this season, the team announced.

Feb. 4: The Predators have placed winger Vinnie Hinostroza on waivers, Elliotte Friedman of Sportsnet reports Tuesday. He’ll presumably be sent to AHL Milwaukee if he clears.

The versatile 30-year-old forward is the odd man out as Nashville looks to open a roster spot, potentially to activate defenseman Jeremy Lauzon off injured reserve. He’d been playing top-six spot duty for the Preds since they recalled him in late December, even recently skating on a line with Filip Forsberg and Ryan O’Reilly.

However, he hasn’t converted a strong start in the minors into impactful play at the NHL level. He has two assists in 13 games since his recall, averaging 11:32 per game and serving as a healthy scratch in three of Nashville’s last five contests.

Before his recall, the veteran of 387 NHL games was among the AHL’s leading scorers with 33 points in 26 appearances for Milwaukee. His 1.27 points per game still leads minor-leaguers with at least 20 games, although he didn’t participate in yesterday’s AHL All-Star Classic because of his summons to the big club.

The Chicago native inked a two-year, two-way deal with the Preds in free agency last summer and already cleared waivers once at the beginning of the season. He’s no longer the 30-point threat he was with the Blackhawks and Coyotes early in his career, and he hasn’t played more than 30 NHL games in a season since 2021-22, but his AHL numbers over the past couple of seasons indicate he’s still a capable depth scorer and a safe veteran recall option. That could draw some interest from some forward-needy teams on the wire, but a commitment past the end of the year is usually enough of a deterrent for players of Hinostroza’s caliber to pass through waivers unclaimed.

Flames Recall Ilya Solovyov

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The Flames announced Wednesday that they’ve recalled defenseman Ilya Solovyov from AHL Calgary. He takes the roster spot of Kevin Bahl, who was placed on injured reserve last week following an upper-body injury.

It’s Solovyov’s first recall of the season after playing 10 NHL games last year and subsequently clearing waivers during training camp. The 24-year-old lefty has emerged as a top-pairing AHL option with the Wranglers this season, ranking second on the team with a +18 rating and posting six goals and 15 assists for 21 points in 41 games.

That two-way play will earn him a look on the NHL roster for the first time since last April. The 2020 seventh-rounder didn’t look entirely out of place in his first big-league audition, posting three assists in 10 games for the Flames in 2023-24 while averaging 15:54 per game. His 46.1 CF% at even strength wasn’t impressive but wasn’t abysmal, either, and he blocked 17 shots and laid 14 hits during his time in the lineup as well.

Solovyov was a restricted free agent for most of last summer before returning to Calgary on a two-year, partial two-way deal that converts to a one-way pact for 2025-26. It’s clear the Flames see NHL upside in the 6’3″ Belarusian, and he could be set to enter the lineup in place of struggling veteran Tyson Barrie on Thursday against the Avalanche.

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