Canucks Boss Admits To Paying High Price In Penguins Trade

The Pittsburgh Penguins and Vancouver Canucks did some business on Friday.

Pittsburgh acquired a first-round draft pick, forward Danton Heinen, defenseman Vincent Desharnais and recent draft pick Melvin Fernstrom from Vancouver in exchange for defenseman Marcus Pettersson and forward Drew O’Connor.

It’s a deal that came with some trepidation for one side.

Canucks president of hockey operations Jim Rutherford knows that he’s currently trying to strike a balance between competing for the postseason and setting up for the future, which made giving up three players and a premium pick a relatively difficult decision. Vancouver is getting back two players on expiring contracts, after all.

“We had to give up something to get him, but Marcus is one heck of a defenseman,” Rutherford said early Saturday, per The Athletic’s Josh Yohe. “I traded for him when I was in Pittsburgh, and I’m very happy with how that one turned out. I traded Daniel Sprong for him, and I can still remember people saying, ‘How on earth can you trade Daniel Sprong for this guy?’ Well, I’m pretty darn happy with how that worked out. How good did that trade work out? And here we are again. We need an upgrade, and he’s going to give us that. I know that he will.”

Rutherford is happy with the decision, though, despite the hefty price.

“He’s just what we need, in my opinion,” Rutherford said. “You know what he is? He’s just a very, very steady defensive defenseman. You need to have guys like that if you want to win in this league. And he’s one of the really good ones.”

The Penguins are undoubtedly pleased with their return, so maybe this happens to become one of those trades where everyone wins.

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