David Jiricek, one of the leagues top right-handed defensive prospects, has struggled this season with consistently staying in the Columbus Blue Jackets lineup. He made the team out of training camp this season, and then didn’t play until the fifth game of the season. While Jiricek is still only 21 years old and stood his ground in the AHL over the past three seasons, the coaching staff has had trust issues with the defensive side of his game. Jiricek has struggled with neutral zone coverage and decision making, often forgetting his assigned coverage and prematurely jumping into the play, leading to dangerous scoring chances against.

Pettersson has largely played on the Penguins top defensive pairing this season with fellow Swede Erik Karlsson. He plays as a defensive defenseman with little offensive upside, topping out at 30 points last season. His defensive numbers throughout his career are consistently positive-impact and have continued to stay that way this season, even if the Penguins are sitting at a league worst 3.9 GA/G.

While the new season has just begun and NHL Free Agency doesn’t happen until July 1st, the beginning of a season is incredibly important to players with contracts coming to a close. Having a hot start allows players looking to lock in a large payday, an early start on favourable negotiations.