This is the 2025-26 edition — an archived read. Read the 2026-27 report →
Marcus Pettersson
Vancouver Canucks Defense
Six-foot-five and 174 pounds — the lightest man in this edition for his height — and 78 per cent of his attempts from beyond 40 feet.
| Season | Team | GP | G | A | PTS | +/- | PIM | PP | SH | GW | S | S% | TOI |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2017-18 | ANA | 22 | 1 | 3 | 4 | +5 | 6 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 16 | 6.3 | 13:37 |
| 2018-19 | ANA/PIT | 84 | 2 | 23 | 25 | +17 | 66 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 87 | 2.3 | 16:41 |
| 2019-20 | PIT | 69 | 2 | 20 | 22 | +9 | 35 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 79 | 2.5 | 19:24 |
| 2020-21 | PIT | 47 | 2 | 7 | 9 | +8 | 22 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 46 | 4.3 | 16:29 |
| 2021-22 | PIT | 72 | 2 | 17 | 19 | +8 | 38 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 83 | 2.4 | 15:39 |
| 2022-23 | PIT | 68 | 1 | 23 | 24 | +4 | 58 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 96 | 1.0 | 20:35 |
| 2023-24 | PIT | 82 | 4 | 26 | 30 | +28 | 44 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 106 | 3.8 | 22:40 |
| 2024-25 | PIT/VAN | 78 | 4 | 25 | 29 | +6 | 45 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 70 | 5.7 | 21:42 |
| 2025-26 so far | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — |
| Career | — | 522 | 18 | 144 | 162 | +85 | 314 | 1 | 0 | 2 | 583 | 3.1 | 18:57 |
This Season So Far
The 2025-26 season has not started. The empty row above is his, and both it and this paragraph fill in on their own from the morning after he first plays: what he has done, what it is worth against his own last season, and the run he is on when the two disagree.
Last Season
4 goals and 25 assists in 78 games across Pittsburgh and Vancouver — 29 points at 21:42 a night, plus-6, with 45 penalty minutes.
52.2 per cent of the expected goals at five-on-five, the 73rd percentile, across 1,366 minutes — the most on the roster. His ice went 55-56 against an expectation of 60.94-55.76 — six goals of scoring missing and level against.
The Finesse Game
70 attempts in 78 games at a median of 58 feet with 78 per cent from beyond 40 and 5 per cent from inside 20, and 4 goals. 18 goals in 522 career games. He does not shoot.
25 assists is a career high and it comes entirely from the breakout. The first pass is early, short and correct, and he is comfortable under a forecheck in a way that most defensive defencemen are not.
The Physical Game
6-5 and 174 pounds, which is a remarkable set of numbers — he is among the tallest defencemen in the league and among the lightest. He defends almost entirely with reach: he takes the puck with his stick before contact is required.
45 penalty minutes in 78 games is a moderate rate. He does not clear a crease by force and he is not going to move a heavy forward off it, and the reach means he does not often have to.
The Intangibles
A second-round pick of Anaheim in 2014 and 522 games and 162 points across three organisations, six seasons of it in Pittsburgh.
He was acquired at the deadline in March with Drew O’Connor and signed a six-year extension immediately. He is 29 and he is now the second-most-used defenceman on the club.
The numbers underneath
On the ice
Five-on-five, 2024-25 · 1,366 minutes
- Expected goals
- 52.2%
- 73rd pct
- Shot attempts
- 50.8%
- 62nd pct
share of the chances while he was out there
share of the attempts while he was out there
Goals while he was on the ice: 55 for, 56 against. Expected: 60.9 and 55.8.
The eye and the numbers
HindsightThe numbers rank him 43 points above where the report does. It was written for a back edition, with the seasons that followed already known. Neither the agreement nor the gap says anything about the eye, and this report is excluded from the club-level comparison for the same reason. Why the numbers land there sets out the club he did it on, the minutes he played and the men he played them with.
Both bars are percentiles among the 637 skaters in this edition with a report and enough ice time. The report bar ranks the mean of the grades above — 69 on their own scale — against every other report's mean. The numbers bar ranks his share of expected goals. A gap is a disagreement about where he belongs, not two scales talking past each other.
Usual linemates
2024-25 with PIT · 880 minutes at five-on-five
- Kris Letang32%
Share of his five-on-five ice time spent alongside each player, measured from shift charts. Special teams are excluded: a power-play unit is not a line.
Why the numbers land there
Five-on-five, 2024-25
- The club
- VAN took 49.1% of the expected goals as a club. His own share is 52.2% — 3.1 above the club he did it on.
- The role
- Second pair, 1,366 minutes at five-on-five — 94th percentile in ice time.
With and without
| Teammate | Together | Him apart | Mate apart |
|---|---|---|---|
| Erik Karlsson | 52.9% | 51.8% | 45.7% |
| Sidney Crosby | 55.6% | 50.9% | 49.6% |
| Rickard Rakell | 55.5% | 51.2% | 50.1% |
52.9% together, 51.8% for him apart and 45.7% for Karlsson apart. Karlsson was worse away from him while his own share held — the pairing was doing more for Karlsson than for him.
Expected-goal share while both were on the ice, and for each man in the minutes he played without the other. Apart is the pair subtracted from his own totals. It does not settle who was carrying whom — apart from each other, both were still playing with somebody — but it does say whether the share travelled when the pairing broke up.
Where he shoots from
goal on goal missed
126 unblocked shots in 2024-25, 4 of them goals. His median goal came from 59 feet. 6% of his shots came from inside twenty feet, 78% from beyond forty.