I saw that one coming

Nope.

I don't view Mikheyev as worth his cap hit so need to add something just to take him especially given the cap constraints VAN has. Pettersson alone is worth a 1st+. He's not great creating offense, but is a borderline elite defensive dman in his prime with another year on contract. He matches perfectly with an offensively elite RD partner. It's no coincidence whatever partner of Letang or Karlsson he plays with outscores the opposition significantly this year.

Pens are not moving Pettersson unless we're in the same situation we are now come the deadline next year and if we did, we're certainly gonna get a better deal than that elsewhere.