The role of big, rangy, left-shot veteran defenceman for the Vancouver Canucks will now be played by Jamie Oleksiak.
The part had belonged to Marcus Pettersson for a season-and-a-half, since coming over from the Pittsburgh Penguins on Feb. 1, 2025, in a trade package that included the 2025 NHL draft No. 12 selection.
Canucks general manager Ryan Johnson landed a 2030 first-round selection from the New York Rangers in exchange for the 6-foot-5, 174 pound Pettersson, 30, who has a cap hit of US$5.5 million and is signed through 2030-31.
Johnson inked Oleksiak, 33, as a free agent, signing the 6-foot-7, 252-pounder for two years at a cap hit of US$5 million after he spent the previous five seasons with the Seattle Kraken.
Johnson added an asset and scaled back the contract commitment for a similar player, along with saving a few cap dollars. If Johnson plays the rebuild correctly, they’ll never use that Ranger pick themselves. It’s trade capital for when Vancouver would be in line to make a series of playoff runs.
The Canucks should also be able to flip out Oleksiak at either this coming season’s trade deadline or the one the year after for a draft pick. Oleksiak has 57 NHL playoff games under his belt and may have played the best hockey of his career during the Dallas Stars’ run to the 2020 Stanley Cup Final. He averaged 21 minutes, 38 seconds of ice time during those 27 post-season games after averaging 15:49 during the regular season.
Oleksiak, too, was an expansion draft pickup by the Kraken. He’s been in that start-from-scratch situation, which is similar to what Vancouver is in the midst of embarking on.
“It’s a little different with an expansion draft and whatnot, but you’re trying to establish a culture,” the older brother of Olympic swimmer Penny Oleksiak and 14-year NHL veteran said during a Zoom call with the Vancouver media earlier this week.
“I’ve been around the league for a while, and I can bring my experiences to the team. Just show up every day with a good work ethic and try and help set the standard. I think it’s going to be a challenge. It’s going to be something that, as athletes, we always embrace and I’m really looking forward to it.”
Calgary Flames forward Kevin Rooney battles Seattle Kraken defenceman Jamie Oleksiak at the Scotiabank Saddledome in Calgary on March 4, 2024.
Oleksiak, whose nickname is Big Rig, was fifth in ice time among defenceman (16:56 per game) last season with a Kraken team that finished 27th (34-37-11) in the league. The Canucks (25-49-8) were in the cellar of the 32-team loop and 21 points back of Seattle. Among rearguards who were with the Canucks all season, Pettersson was second in ice time (21:27 per game).
Some of that five-minute difference per game in ice time will fall on Oleksiak. He’ll undoubtedly have greater penalty-kill responsibilities than he had in Seattle. He averaged 1:39 minutes a game with Seattle short-handed last season, compared with 2:43 for Pettersson with Vancouver.
The eyeball test says that he’s a more physical player than Pettersson, and the statistics back that up, with Oleksiak averaging 5.08 hits per 60 minutes last season compared with 2.69 for Pettersson.
Johnson brought in another veteran rearguard in Luke Schenn, 36, this off-season as a free agent on a one-year deal with a cap hit of US$2.25 million.
Add in No. 1 blueliner Filip Hronek, 28, and Vancouver has a veteran that they can pair with each of the trio of Elias Pettersson, 22, Tom Willander, 21, and Zeev Buium, 20, to help give the youngsters cover.
Willander is the lone young gun right-shot, manning that side with Hronek and Schenn. Oleksiak is the only old-guard lefty, to go along with Pettersson and Buium. That could have him pairing with Willander, Vancouver’s first-round pick (No. 11 overall) from the 2023 draft.
“You look at the guys we brought in,” Oleksiak said, pointing to himself, Schenn and veteran winger Brendan Gallagher, 34, who came over in a trade with the Montreal Canadiens, “and I think the three of us bring sandpaper and experience, and I think some steadiness as well.
“I think the goal really is to come in and put in the work on a daily basis and hopefully lead by example in that respect. Just provide a consistent, steady presence, and hopefully that translates to success.
“I think that’s kind of what’s been a key to my career.”
The Edmonton Oilers’ Josh Samanski (81) is pulled down by the Seattle Kraken’s Jamie Oleksiak (24) and David Lewandowski (38) during at Rogers Place in Edmonton on Sept. 24, 2025.
There were reports out of San Jose that Marcus Pettersson was “motivated to move” to another team in June but Rick Dhaliwal of CHEK’s Donnie and Dhali balked at that, saying that Pettersson’s agent, Peter Wallen, told him that “Pettersson loves it in Vancouver and is thrilled to see what the new management crew will bring and lead them to.”
By all accounts, he was a good influence in the Canucks’ dressing room. In March, he said “it’s supposed to be a fun game — not so threatening.”
And, as much as his game isn’t particularly rugged, he has fought some of the game’s toughest customers and it’s usually been standing up for teammates. Pettersson has 12 fighting majors over his nine-year NHL career and combatants have included Nicholas Deslauriers, Tom Wilson, Sam Bennett and Darnell Nurse.
The Penguins flipped that draft pick they received from Vancouver in the Pettersson trade to the Philadelphia Flyers for picks No. 22 and 31. The Flyers used No. 12 on Windsor Spitfires centre Jack Nesbitt. He had 25 goals and 58 points in 55 OHL regular-season games with Windsor, Ont., last season.
Nesbitt, 19, is yet to sign with Philadelphia. The 6-foot-5, 185 pound pivot is committed to play this season with the University of Michigan.