Wings pass, they're not paying for a 4/5 D signed for 4 more years at a pretty high AAV. With the flat cap teams will be giving these types of players away, and likely even resorting to paying other teams to take them off their hands

Acquiring a LHD would fill a position of need for Detroit. DeKeyser is the only LHD we have under contract and he's not great. Cholowski and Djoos are both RFA's but they're both PP specialists with defensive issues.

How has Pettersson played this year?

Pettersson can play and Detroit should do that

You're discounting the player a tad bit here. Hes a legit 2nd pair guy and would be a good partner for hronek. He isn't a cap dump jag.

I'm on the fence.

When you say “legit 2nd pair guy” what exactly do you mean? When I see legit, I think can anchor that 2nd pairing on a contender or above average team. We’ve see the return of two superior defenders last offseason (Toews, Schmidt) and one of them returned less than this.

I'd be fine with this. I don't mind Pettersson for a late 3rd and late 4th.

He’s not bad. Solid 2nd pair guy. He plays really well with more offensive or two way dmen so he can be a shutdown guy. But has shown potential to be more offensive when needed.

He's anchoring the 2nd pair of a contender right now. Schmidt went for less because his contract is kind of a big pill. If vegas was a bit more patient with the situation they probably get more. Toews went for way more than this.

he's been a steady man this this year but could use a change of scenery. early on there was tons of pressure because of a depleted back end but as they got healthy he's been fine. for a team like detroit it's worth the price because he has potential

Just trying to follow the logic.

Schmidt’s (5.95M) is a tough pill to swallow for a much better defensemen but MP’s 4M (within 2M difference) isn’t? I would wager his NTC diminished his value more than his contract as waiting really wouldn’t accomplish anything since they had 24 hours to be cap compliant for the AP deal.

Toew’s way more is two late second rounder picks (Colorado) versus a late third (VGK) and late fourth (TBL). Yes, there is a value difference as Toews is a legit top pairing defender making 4.1M x 4 years.

MP’s defensive partner is John Marino whom I’d wager most would rather have than MP. I mention this because it’s not like he’s carrying his defensive partner and as it’s already been addressed MP’s offensive and transition metrics aren’t great. I’d add further that MP has really never shown to be a great offensive threat even at the Swedish junior level as his calling card is a stay at home D.

Over the last half of the season he’s been averaging sub 16 minutes of ice time. Since April 1st he’s been in 4 games where he eclipsed 18 minutes of ice time but never more than 19 minutes out of 20 possible games.

I just don’t see this player anchoring a second line currently. I’m not saying he can’t but the metrics don’t help and he’s having a down year and I don’t see the offensive upside in him. Doesn’t seem like a great gamble to me versus signing someone like Martinez.

Oh i agree his offensive upside is limited and id rather have martinez for cash than mp for picks.

I mean to say MP doesn’t have value or that his value should decrease or that he shouldn’t be coveted simply because his partner is better/more valuable is nonsense. I mean Alec Martinez is Alex Pietrangelo’s partner. You shouldn’t want him and should think he stinks because his partner is a better player.

No, I didn’t say that at all. Read the rest of the paragraph and maybe try to counter a single point I made about MP.

You did say that. You said his partner is better and that you don’t see him anchoring a 2nd pair. But then said you’d rather sign Martinez who also has a partner better than him. If that’s not what you meant then you wouldn’t have said “John Marino is better and I’d be willing to wager most would rather have him.” The same can be said about Martinez. “Pietrangelo is better and I’d be willing to wager most would rather have him.” But guess what? Pietrangelo isn’t available. Since Marino isn’t available then it doesn’t matter if other teams would rather have him. The choice is between MP or overpay in free agency for maybe a slightly better but much older player. Which wouldn’t really make sense for a team like Detroit.

Let’s break it down chronologically. The original poster whom I commented said “a legit 2nd pair guy” for which I asked for clarity on what they meant. I even used the word anchor, ie 3D. When I say legit or anchor I’m talking about specifically someone that isn’t a fringe caliber player of that title. For instance, if I say someone is a legit second pairing I’m talking about someone that would be labeled a 3D and not 4-5D. Which is why I asked for clarity because people throw around terms like elite, legit, etc and everyone interprets them differently.

My entire post that you quoted is about understanding that individuals thought process. First it discusses comparable trades that occurred in the Covid era where salary was going one way with a comparison to MP. The first sentence in that four paragraph you’re having an issue with is because you cherry picked that sentence without any context. I’m not saying MP is being carried by Marino but rather he isn’t carrying his defensive partner so his stats aren’t being dragged down which are mentioned and further I use his ice time to show he isn’t playing second pairing minutes or “anchoring” that second line. He doesn’t have great transition or offensive metrics and further he’s never shown to be great offensively even at the junior level so where is this potential?

If you’d like to discuss this I’m more than happy but your original comment isn’t what I said as you misinterpreted a single sentence between me and @jfstompers. As for why I’d like Martinez, it’s simple, he’d cost no picks, can help carry a defensive burden of top 4 minutes, provides leadership, stylistically compliments Hronek, and is a Michigan local. He’s not the only UFA though that fits. I never once said I wanted AP or Marino but asked questions for someone’s logic behind their comment.