Pittsburgh Penguins general manager Jim Rutherford said earlier this week the team will open contract talks with defenceman Marcus Pettersson shortly after he becomes eligible to sign an extension on January 1. 

Matt Vensel of the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette reports the two sides "essentially had a multi-year contract in place" during the summer but had to settle on a one-year deal because of the Penguins' lack of cap space.

“We owe it to him to have that discussion at the earliest time we can have it,” Rutherford told the Post-Gazette. “We both agreed to do a different contract that he ultimately took because it’s the only thing we could do with the cap situation. Now that we’ve moved [Erik] Gudbranson, we’ve got some cap space [going forward].”

Pettersson agreed to a one-year deal worth $874,215 in September and is currently scheduled to be arbitration eligible as a restricted free agent this summer. The Penguins are currently scheduled to have $22.75 million in cap space next July, but have only 10 players under contract.

The 23-year-old has one goal and 13 points in 36 games this season, while averaging 18:57 of ice time per game.

A second-round pick of the Anaheim Ducks in 2014, Pettersson has four goals and 42 points in 142 games with the Ducks and Penguins.