A few minutes before midnight Friday, the Penguins traded Marcus Pettersson and Drew O'Connor to the Canucks for a conditional first-round NHL Draft pick, veteran forward Danton Heinen, veteran defenseman Vincent Desharnais and forward prospect Melvin Fernstrom.

The conditions on the pick: The Penguins will receive the 2025 or 2026 first-round pick that the Canucks received earlier Friday from the Rangers as part of the J.T. Miller trade. The pick is top-13 protected -- meaning, if the Rangers' pick ends up being in the top-13, the pick defers to 2026. If they finish better than that, the Penguins would have the pick this summer.

Regardless, the Penguins now have 29 picks over the next three drafts, including four first-rounders. They also have 15 picks within the first three rounds over the next three years, most of any team.

“Moving two long-time Penguins is never an easy decision,” Kyle Dubas said in a statement of Pettersson and O'Connor. “Marcus and Drew have competed day-in and day-out for the organization since the day they arrived. Both players are high-quality people, highly competitive players and zero maintenance for their fellow teammates and the staff of the Penguins.”

Both Pettersson and O'Connor were set to be unrestricted free agents this summer. Heinen and Desharnais each has one more year left on their contract after this season, with Heinen carrying a $2.25 million cap hit and Desharnais a $2 million cap hit. The net change for the Penguins is an additional $700,000 toward the salary cap, giving them roughly $2.4 million in cap space, per PuckPedia. Fernstrom is a prospect who has yet to sign his entry-level deal, so the Penguins remain at 49 of their 50 allotted contracts.

Dubas added that the trade "continues to move us in the direction set one year ago which is to continue to add young prospects, young players, and draft capital to the Penguins as we chart our course to return the club back into contention as urgently as possible."

Heinen, 29, returns after previously playing in Pittsburgh from 2021-23 and leaving in free agency. He has six goals and 12 assists in 51 games with Vancouver this year.

Desharnais, 28, has three assists in 34 games and stands 6-7, 226 pounds. He ranked No. 2 among the Canucks' regular defensemen in rate of hits at 5.97 per 60 minutes. He's a right-handed shot, restoring left-right balance to the Penguins' three pairs: Without any further moves, the left side can be some combination of Matt Grzelcyk, Ryan Graves, P.O Joseph and Ryan Shea, with Kris Letang, Erik Karlsson and Desharnais on the right side, with nobody forced to play their off hand. 

Fernstrom, 18, was the Canucks' third-round pick in 2024. He's playing for Orebo in the Swedish Hockey League, where he has three goals and five assists in 35 games, as well as 11 goals and seven assists for 12 games with Orebo's under-20 junior affiliate. He played for Sweden at the World Junior Championship this year, recording two assists in four games.

"We are pleased to add Danton Heinen back to the Penguins and Vincent Desharnais to the club and look forward to seeing both in uniform in the coming days," Dubas said. "The addition of Melvin Fernstrom also gives us a prospect that was highly regarded at the 2024 NHL Draft, and the Rangers’ first-round draft pick provides us with another strong asset that we can use to acquire an elite young player in the draft or via trade.”

The Penguins play tonight, 7:08 p.m., against the Predators at PPG Paints Arena.