One Year Later: Daniel Sprong For Marcus Pettersson Trade

Photo: AP/Kyusung Gong

By Thomas Harrington

One year ago today, the Anaheim Ducks traded defenseman Marcus Petterson to the Pittsburgh Penguins for winger Daniel Sprong. A year later, Pittsburgh has come out on top of this trade. However, the trade made a lot of sense for Anaheim at the time.

The Ducks selected Pettersson in the second round of the 2014 NHL Entry Draft, 38th overall. He spent the next several seasons playing in Sweden, including two years in the SHL, Sweden’s top hockey league. He came stateside to play in the 2017-2018 season, splitting the year between Anaheim and San Diego. With the Gulls, he played in 44 games and recorded 14 assists. In Anaheim, he played in 22 games and scored one goal and four points. After a strong first season in North America, Pettersson looked ready to spend the entire year in the NHL and played in 27 games for the Ducks before he was traded. He recorded six assists before the trade.

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The Penguins selected Sprong in the second round of the 2015 NHL Entry Draft, 46th overall. After being drafted, he made his NHL debut the following season, playing in 18 NHL games and scoring two goals. However, he spent the rest of the year in juniors, scoring 16 goals and 46 points in 33 games. Sprong spent the entirety of the 2016-2017 season in the QMJHL, playing in 31 games and scoring 32 goals and 59 assists. Sprong turned pro on a full-time basis the following season, spending most of the season in the AHL where he played in 65 games and scored 32 goals and 65 points. He did play in eight games for the Penguins and scored two goals and three points. He skated in 16 games for the Penguins in the 2018-2019 season before he was traded and recorded four assists.

A year ago, the Ducks were in desperate need of offensive help, and the Penguins were in desperate need of defensive help, so this deal made a lot of sense for both teams. Neither player would solve either team’s problems, but they had the potential to help. Pettersson is a solid defenseman with decent upside and Sprong knows how to score. While Anaheim’s defensive prospect core isn’t what it used to be, the Ducks still had Jacob Larsson, Josh Mahura, Simon Benoit, Andy Welinski, and Jaycob Megna. Pittsburgh has long been an offensively deep team, so both teams were dealing from positions of strength to try to solidify a position of weakness.

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In Pittsburgh, Pettersson played in 57 games and scored two goals and 19 points. Despite joining the team partway through the season, he finished fifth in games played among Penguin defensemen and third in assists and points. This year, he’s been playing over 19 minutes a night, fifth among Pittsburgh’s defensemen and has really stepped into a top-four role with the team because of the number of injuries that they have had on defense. He has one goal and seven points in 27 games this season.

In Anaheim, Sprong was in and out of the lineup through the rest of the season, but he did score 14 goals and 19 points in 47 games. Coming into this season, the Ducks were pretty set at right-wing. Even with Corey Perry bought out, the team had Jakob Silfverberg, Ondrej Kase, and Troy Terry to play in the team’s top three right-wing spots, and Sprong’s game doesn’t really lend itself to a fourth-line role. As a result, before the season started, he was placed on waivers and has spent the entire season in San Diego. He had a poor start to the season, but he has been much better lately, and he has five goals and 13 points in 18 games.

A year later, Pittsburgh has come out on top of this trade, as they got a top-four defenseman out of this deal, while the Ducks currently have a minor league player. Sprong knows how to score, but he struggles in other aspects of the game. If he can continue to improve his game with the Gulls, we could see him back in Anaheim, and if that happens, then this deal won’t look so bad, but for now, it’s a definite win for Pittsburgh.

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December 3rd, 2019