Wowza, that’s a big trade.

In case you haven’t seen, let’s break down the deal between the Pittsburgh Penguins and Vancouver Canucks on what has been a very busy night in the NHL.

To Vancouver:

• Defenseman Marcus Pettersson
• Forward Drew O’Connor

To Pittsburgh:

• Conditional first round pick
• Forward Danton Heinen
• Defenseman Vincent Desharnais
• Forward Melvin Fermström

The conditional pick that the Penguins’ acquired actually belongs to the New York Rangers, who completed a separate deal with the Canucks earlier yesterday. In that trade, the Rangers acquired JT Miller as part of a massive deal that sent New York’s 2025 or 2026 first rounder back to Vancouver.

That pick is top-13 protected, so there’s a decent chance that the Penguins get that first rounder sooner rather than later. Assuming Pittsburgh get the Rangers’ 2025 first rounder, that will give the Penguins 11 draft picks in the upcoming draft.

Ok, now let’s get to the players themselves.

It sucks to see it happen, but I think we all knew Marcus Pettersson was on his way out the door. He’s earned a decent raise over his current $4.025 million, and it likely didn’t make a ton of sense for the Penguins to commit to him long term when they are on a downward trajectory. Pettersson was their best rental trade chip at this deadline, and they used him to the best of their ability to get a good return.

The departure of Pettersson hurts a little less knowing that he’s had a bit of a down year, but an already bad defensive core just got a whole lot worse.

What I did not see coming, however, was O’Connor also being a part of this deal. O’Connor, who is an RFA at season’s end, is having a rough go of it this season. He’s been a non-factor for massive stretches this season in Pittsburgh, and his 16 points in 53 games were disappointing for a player who should have taken a big step this season.

I did not foresee Pettersson netting a first round pick on his own (unless a bidding war ensued), so it’s possible that tossing O’Connor in the deal helped Pens general manager Kyle Dubas get a first rounder out of Vancouver.

Or, it could have been the contracts that Dubas agreed to take back.

Listen, Danton Heinen and Vincent Desharnais aren’t terrible NHL contracts, but they certainly aren’t great.

Heinen is now in his second stint with the Penguins. Over his two years with the club, he put up 55 points in 141 games, but after a harsh 2022-23 season, the Penguins weren’t interested in extending him, even on the cheap. Now, they’re getting him back at a much higher cap hit than he originally accounted for in Pittsburgh.

Heinen, now 29, will count for $2.25 million against the cap for this season and next, and at 17 points through 50 games for the Canucks this season, he’s producing at no higher clip than his 2022-23 year with the Penguins. Heinen also has a 12-team no trade list, according to PuckPedia.

It’s the type of contract that a rebuilding team has to be ok taking back.

Likewise with Desharnais, 28, who will cost $2 million against the cap for this year and next. Desharnais’ biggest selling point in his size. Standing at 6′ 7 and 226 pounds, he has registered three assists and has a -5 rating in 34 games this season.

I suppose it makes a little more sense now why the Penguins did not put in a claim on Adam Boqvist. I’m not saying that Desharnais is a better player or better bet than Boqvist, but Desharnais becomes one more depth defender who logjams that position for the Penguins.

I am interested to see how much time he actually gets on the ice in Pittsburgh. He averaged just shy of 16:00 a night in Vancouver. How does head coach Mike Sullivan deploy a player like him?

The Penguins also got a prospect in this deal, who should not be ignored. Melvin Fernström is an 18-year-old forward who is currently playing for Örebro HK in the Swedish league. He has three goals and five assists with a -6 rating in 35 games this season, but he’s a raw talent who could figure into the Penguins’ organization years into the future.

Fernström isn’t someone who is going to blow anyone away when they look at this trade, but he showed enough skill to have Vancouver take him in the third round back in the summer. That’s certainly not nothing.

So here’s what I think: eh.

Honestly, I am stoked that the Penguins got a first round pick in this deal. Even if its in 2026, they desperately need more early-round picks like this, but to do so they gave away two of their more attractive assets.

In addition to that, they took on two unfavorable contracts in Heinen and Desharnais. Like I said before, they aren’t anchors by any means, but it’s not like they got paid extra to take them on.

In the short term, Heinen at 0.34 points per game is actually outproducing O’Connor’s 0.30, but it’s not by much.

With news about the salary cap going up quite a bit over the next few years, spending $4 million on guys who will play NHL minutes for you is fine. But if the Penguins wanted to take on a bigger contract, or complete a more complex deal later on, that money could complicate things.

Is that thinking pretty far into the future? Yes, but that’s what Dubas is looking to with a trade like this.

If the Penguins get lucky, one of Heinen or Desharnais might experience a resurgence in Pittsburgh, and Dubas can flip them for futures at next year’s trade deadline. Either one of those guys probably fetches a similar return that Anthony Beauviller and Matt Grzelcyk will bring in this season, but it never hurts to stockpile futures.

What should not get lost in here, too, is that the Penguins did not retain on either player, which means they still have one retention slot open to facilitate or execute a deal of that type. Whether that’s a much more complex move, like shipping out Erik Karlsson, or playing the third wheel to another trade, that gives the Penguins options.

Fermström will be another interesting Penguins prospect to keep an eye on, but unlike a Vasily Ponomarev or Ville Koivunen, he is nowhere near the NHL.

I am certainly not against this trade. But I’m not over the moon, so to speak.

(Featured photo by Joe Sargent/NHLI via Getty Images)