Vitals
Player: Marcus Pettersson
Born: May 8th, 1996 (23 years old)
Height: 6’3”
Weight: 177 lbs
Birthplace: Skelleftea, Sweden
Position: Defenseman
Shoots: Left
Draft: 38th overall (2nd Round), 2014 Entry Draft by the Anaheim Ducks
2018-19 Stats: 84 games played, 2 goals, 23 assists (both goals and 17 of the 23 assists came with the Penguins)
Contract status: After coming to the Penguins via trade in the final year of his entry-level contract, Pettersson is currently without a contract for the 2019-20 season, as a pending RFA
The past:
Regular Season History
Although Marcus Pettersson is still technically classified as an NHL rookie for 2018-19, he managed to play the rare 84 game season, two more than a typical full season due to the timing of Pittsburgh and Anaheim’s respective schedules when they made their trade for Daniel Sprong.
Fancier Stats
Though he was asked to play under 16 minutes a night, Pettersson was a very effective and efficient player with the ice time that he did play. He seems to have fit the bill of a player who needed a change of scenery and thrived under good defensive coaching of Jacques Martin.
Playoffs
Just like the rest of his teammates, about all you can say here about his playoffs is “yes, he played in them”.
Monthly Split
via Yahoo!
Pettersson was fairly consistent with generating a few points here and there, and his ice time when coming to Pittsburgh did go way up as the season went on — especially in the month of March where there were injuries to significant players like Kris Letang and Brian Dumoulin.
Charts
Pretty impressive for a third pairing player, as is the trend for most of Pettersson’s advanced stats on the season.
A few games with Letang but Pettersson basically played the Pittsburgh portion of his season with Jack Johnson, Chad Ruhwedel and Erik Gudbranson. And, it’s probably saying something in that it was the best Johnson and Gudbranson looked in their season’s when they paired with the steady Pettersson.
Marcus Pettersson, professional Jack Johnson prop-er up-er.
Highlights
Ideal 2019-20
Heading into the 2019-20 season, the ideal outlook regarding Marcus Pettersson would be to see what kind of production the Penguins can get from him without being tethered to Jack Johnson. Pettersson did a fantastic job of propping up the Penguins problem child and I’d like to see what he can do on his own accord.
Realistic 2019-20
A realistic outlook, as much as it pains me to type, is that the Penguins are not able to move Jack Johnson during the upcoming offseason, and that the combination of Petterson and Johnson is as good as things can be to keep things afloat.
Worst Case 2019-20
If there is a worst case to be seen with Marcus Pettersson, I don’t know if we’ve had a glimpse of it yet, really. If he can stay in good position when paired with Jack Johnson, even if he isn’t, he should be able to keep progressing as a Penguin. At only 23 years old, he still has room for his game to grow and I don't see it getting towards a worst case.
Discussion
How do you rate Marcus Pettersson’s game as a Penguin? Did they make the right move swapping Daniel Sprong out for defense? Where do you see Pettersson’s game growing to as he develops further? Is it a realistic thought to see him moving into a potential Justin Schultz replacement as Schultz nears free agency?
Poll
Grade Marcus Pettersson’s 2018-19 Season Performance
This poll is closed
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30%
A
-
64%
B
-
4%
C
-
0%
D
-
0%
F