Drury Changes up Defense with Pettersson

After widely having been reported this week to be pursuing young Carolina defenseman Alexander Nikishin, Rangers GM Chris Drury took a bit of a turn, reaching out to the Vancouver Canucks and acquiring Marcus Pettersson in exchange for a top-10 protection 1st round pick in the 2030 draft, the second first round pick he’s parted with this off-season.

The move cost Drury no current assets, and allowed him to shore up a left side defense that struggled last year even with the emergence of Matthew Robertson as a viable NHLer in his first full season. The 30 year old Pettersson reunites with his former bench boss, having been part of the Pittsburgh Penguins under current Rangers Head Coach Mike Sullivan. At 6-5 174, Pettersson is known more for his puck handling than his physicality, and he’s struggled on a Canucks team that has been in disarray over the past couple of seasons like the Rangers.

Pettersson projects to slot in behind Gavrikov into the second pair role, and with five more years at $5.5M, provides the Rangers with some value in that position, and gives them a better option to step up should Gavrikov suffer an injury during the year. The move also likely forces both Drew Fortescue and Alberts Smits down the line-up and into Hartford where they can hopefully help build a winning line-up under new Wolf Pack coach Jay Leach.

Curiously enough the Canucks acquired Pettersson from the Pittsburgh Penguins with the first round pick that was sent to them by the Rangers in the J.T. Miller trade two seasons ago.