Things are lining up for the Vancouver Canucks to swing a trade with the Pittsburgh Penguins.
Penguins general manager Kyle Dubas has reportedly made it known leaguewide that everyone on the team is available for trade except for Sidney Crosby per DK Pittsburgh Sports’ Taylor Haase.
The sell-off started when the Penguins dealt away veteran forward Lars Eller to the Washington Capitals yesterday. More moves are expected to follow.
The Canucks and Penguins organizations have a close relationship. Much of the Canucks current management team worked in Pittsburgh together, including general manager Patrik Allvin and president of hockey operations Jim Rutherford.
The Canucks have brought in a ton of former Penguins, including Teddy Blueger, Ian Cole, Casey DeSmith, and Sam Lafferty, over the past few seasons. With a potential firesale inbound in Pittsburgh, they could dip back into that well and add to this roster.
Here are three players they could target.
Marcus Pettersson
- Position: Defence
- Age: 28
- 2024-25 stats: 17 GP, 1 G, 6 A, 7 PTS
- Contract: $4.025 million through this season
The most attractive target on the Penguins roster is big defenceman Marcus Pettersson. The left-handed player is 6-foot-5 and scored 30 points last season with minimal power play time.
He’s off to another good start this season with seven points so far. While not a bruiser, Pettersson is a good skater for his size and would add another legitimate player to the Canucks’ backend.
The Canucks have been linked in rumours to Pettersson in the past, and the Penguins sell-off could mean the deal gets over the line.
Noel Acciari
- Position: Centre
- Age: 32
- 2024-25 stats: 17 GP, 2 G, 3 A, 5 PTS
- Contract: $2 million AAV through 2025-26 season
You can never have enough centres when contending for the Stanley Cup. The Canucks have a solid group of pivots down the middle but could use another to help supplement the group of Aatu Räty and Nils Aman currently occupying the fourth-line.
Acciari helped the Boston Bruins reach Game 7 of the 2019 Stanley Cup Final. He’s on a relatively cheap deal and is right-handed, giving the Canucks a look they lack.
He’s consistently a strong faceoff taker, although he’s off to a slow start this season, and currently leads the Penguins in hits. If the Canucks want to solidify their bottom-six and add another centre, Acciari makes a lot of sense.
Matt Grzelcyk
- Position: Defence
- Age: 30
- 2024-25 stats: 17 GP, 0 G, 7 A, 7 PTS
- Contract: $2.75 million through this season
Matt Grzelcyk is another defenceman who the Canucks could target to shore up their blue line. He’s only 5-foot-9 but has scored more than 20 points four different times in the NHL.
The emergence of Erik Brannstrom makes adding another smaller blueliner like Grzelcyk less attractive. However, the Canucks could still use more puck-moving in their bottom-four and adding an insurance option could be a smart move.
He also played on the Bruins team that reached the 2019 Stanley Cup Final. Grzelcyk was an analytics darling during his Bruins days, but that has not translated to his new team.