One of the aspects to the trade that sent Marcus Pettersson and Drew O’Connor to Vancouver came with a condition. It was fairly straight-forward but some on social media have continued to ask about it, so let’s take a deeper dive for those not as finely tuned to such clauses.
The Penguins are to get the 2025 first round draft pick of the New York Rangers, which Vancouver had previously acquired. It does come with a slight catch. The pick is top-13 protected — meaning if the pick ends up being between first and 13th, the Rangers keep that pick for themselves.