GM Patrik Allvin Speaks on His Two Roster-Altering Trades

Vancouver Canucks General Manager Patrik Allvin met with the media upon landing in Vancouver to discuss Friday night’s pair of roster-altering trades that put Marcus Pettersson, Drew O’Connor, Victor Mancini, and Filip Chytil in Canucks’ colours.

All four new Canucks are expected to be in the lineup on Sunday when the Canucks host the Detroit Red Wings at 5:00 p.m. PT.

The first big deal of Friday came down with the Canucks trading J.T. Miller, Jackson Dorrington, and Erik Brännström in exchange for centre Filip Chytil, right-shot defenceman Victor Mancini and a protected first-round pick.

Late Friday night, Allvin made a second trade and moved the first-round pick from the Rangers along with Melvin Fernström, Vinny Desharnais and Danton Heinen to the Pittsburgh Penguins for Marcus Pettersson and Drew O’Connor.

Allvin spoke at his airport media availability and began by thanking J.T. Miller, Erik Brännström, Danton Heinen and Vinny Desharnais for their time as Canucks.

The GM was then asked what was next for his team.

“We got a couple extra players obviously coming in here tonight. They'll be ready for the game tomorrow, and we'll hopefully galvanize the group here,” said Allvin. “I thought we had some good games here over the last week, and I think this team has shown, when we're playing in the right way and playing to our identity, that we're a hard team to play against.”

When discussing evolving one trade to the next, Allvin spoke about how he got both deals done so quickly.

“I think my job is to always be ahead of things and communicate with teams around [the league] and see what's available,” said Allvin. “I had some ideas [about] what was needed to get certain deals done, and especially with Pittsburgh, I was aware what Kyle Dubas was asking for, and it worked out that this was the best fit for us doing the deal with Pittsburgh.”

Allvin talked about how the team is moving forward after the recent moves and discussed why he was targeting these new Canucks.

“I, over my time here, have evaluated the team and the group we have, and I think Jim's message early on was that we're trying to retool it,” said Allvin. “In a deal like this, it was important to get younger players into the organization. Obviously, Marcus has the most experience of those players, but we feel that we needed to retool it. And I think we've also been fortunate to stack up our pipeline with prospects, [and] been able to sign some European and college free agent guys to compliment some of the picks that have gone out of the organization in different deals. So, I think that's just part of where we are as an organization.”

The GM spoke about Marcus Pettersson and the future of the defenceman with the Canucks.

“I have not talked to Marcus’ agent. We were travelling today. We just exchanged texts,” said Allvin. “It's definitely a priority for us to get him signed. I know that Marcus is extremely excited. I think Jim mentioned that he traded for him previously, and Sergei Gonchar worked with him in Pittsburgh, so there is a lot of familiarities with Marcus here, and he was thankful and excited for the opportunity.”

Insider Extra

Allvin met with Canucks’ Rinkside Reporter Olivia McDonald and spoke about how he wanted the Canucks to gain assets while getting Miller into a healthy environment. The Canucks’ GM worked closely with Miller and his agent to get a deal done that helped the Canucks get some younger players back in the trade.

“When we looked at our options here, we want to continue to build with younger players. Chytil is a former first-round pick, [and getting a] centreman was important for us. I do believe that with the coaching staff we have here, he has more upside. We're excited to continue to work with him,” said Allvin.

“Mancini was a first-year pro, [who] played in Omaha (Nebraska) College. [He is] a guy that we've been following, and he got 15 games in New York earlier this year. Our staff were excited about the upside there, and it was important to get a young, right-shot defenceman into our system.”

Chytil had a career-high 22 goals and 23 assists for 45 points in 74 games during the 2022-23 season with the Rangers. The left-shot centre has considerable size at 6’2”, 204 pounds and can contribute to the power play.

Most of his offence comes around the crease and he uses his combination of size and speed to get to the dirty areas and battle for position around the net. He was primarily used in a third-line role with the Rangers this season but has the potential to move up the lineup with the Canucks.

Mancini was one of the highest-rising prospects in the Rangers’ pipeline and is in his first year as a pro after completing a three-year career in the NCAA with the University of Nebraska-Omaha.

The 22-year-old, right-shot defenceman stands at 6’3” and is listed at 229 pounds. He moves well for a player of his size and is known for being physical and having a heavy shot from the point.

Allvin then flipped the first-round pick in a trade with the Pittsburgh Penguins that brought in left-shot defenceman Marcus Pettersson and versatile forward Drew O’Connor.

“We've been looking for a top-four defenceman since the summer [and that is] very hard to find around the league. And the price, I didn't want to give up any of our younger prospects that teams really wanted, which have a great future for us. Our staff is well aware of Marcus [Pettersson and his] strength as a player; great leadership, good hockey IQ, smart player. I expect him to come in here and contribute and hopefully be part of the Canucks for the future as well,” Allvin said.

“Drew O'Connor is another guy that Scott Young, [and] our player personnel was part of recruiting to Pittsburgh. He played in the World Championship with Conor Garland a couple of years ago. And again, we felt that we needed more speed and size to get in on the forecheck and Drew is a player that can play different positions in the lineup. So obviously, we want to thank Vinny Desharnais and Danton Heinen for what they did in Canucks and it's always tough to give up a good prospect in Melvin Fernström, but it's part of the business.”

Pettersson’s numbers show well in the offensive zone this season and he has been a consistent defensive defenceman through his eight years in the NHL. Over the past two seasons, Pettersson is averaging 22:27 of ice time per game.

The 6’3”, 28-year-old defender has played on Pittsburgh’s top pairing all season long and was used in a matchup role against opposing top lines while also being the most-used defenceman on Pittsburgh’s penalty kill.

He led Pittsburgh with 83 blocked shots this season and had three goals along with 15 assists through 47 games played.

As for O’Connor, he was also on the Penguins’ top penalty kill unit and was second among forwards for shorthanded ice time this season. He has scored six goals this season and was averaging 14:37 of ice time per game while playing in all 53 of Pittsburgh’s games.

The Canucks are in action on Sunday at 5:00 p.m. PT as they host the Detroit Red Wings at Rogers Arena.