Pittsburgh Penguins veteran defenceman Marcus Pettersson has been playing decently well since returning from injury in early January. Pettersson has been playing mostly alongside either Erik Karlsson or Kris Letang this season.

With just more than five weeks until the 2025 NHL Trade Deadline on March 7, we’re delivering at least one deadline-focused story every day at Daily Faceoff.

With the Columbus Blue Jackets currently in wild card contention, it is no certain thing that defenseman Ivan Provorov will be available. Rasmus Ristolainen may also be available, but he has a higher cap hit and two more seasons beyond 2024-25 left on his contract.

The Pittsburgh Penguins’ decision to weld Kris Letang with Marcus Pettersson on a defensive pairing in recent weeks wasn’t necessarily rooted in a sense of familiarity between the two long-time teammates.

There are two trade deadlines this season, one hard and one soft, and the Pittsburgh Penguins trade chatter has revolved around the players leaving. The team has two pending free agents who have essentially grown up within the franchise,

The Pittsburgh Penguins are digging themselves into a deeper hole game after game. Even with franchise pieces Sidney Crosby and Evgeni Malkin playing out of their minds, the team can’t find a way out of the league’s basement.

Pettersson scored a goal, added two hits and blocked three shots in Wednesday's 3-2 overtime win over Utah. Pettersson's tally briefly tied the game at 1-1 in the second period. The 28-year-old blueliner has had modest success in January with a goal and four assists over 14 contests while seeing time in the top four.

Sidney Crosby scored at 3:54 of overtime and the Pittsburgh Penguins beat the Utah Hockey Club 3-2 on Wednesday night.

And the case is no different for the Pittsburgh Penguins ... Of all the Penguins' players reportedly on the trade block, Pettersson makes the most sense. And he just might be the most coveted ...

The Flames get Joel Farabee and Morgan Frost. Andrei Kuzmenko and Jakob Pelletier go to Philadelphia. Follow this tracker for the latest NHL news.

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The Athletic spoke to three NHL team executives —two current and one former — to get their thoughts on the hot-button topics in Vancouver.