Marcus Pettersson certainly could have gone to the open market. And he could have received a massive payday. The Canucks defenseman would benefit from a rising salary cap for the 2025-26 campaign.

Pettersson was a plus-1 and blocked two shots in Wednesday's 3-2 overtime victory against the Kings. The return of Quinn Hughes (oblique) pushed Pettersson down the depth chart to the second pair ...