Marcus Pettersson was pragmatic about his situation as an unrestricted free agent in September.

As training camp approached, Pettersson acknowledged he wasn’t of the same ilk of All-Stars such as Winnipeg Jets forward Patrik Laine or Toronto Maple Leafs forward Mitchell Marner and several other high-profile restricted free agents who remained unsigned throughout the summer and had threatened holdouts.

With the Penguins facing a salary cap crunch, Pettersson signed a modest — by the prosperous standards of professional hockey salaries — one-year contract worth $874,125 just to avoid missing any time in training camp.

“I feel like, as long as I’m here, I’m in the place I want to be,” Pettersson said Sept. 13. “In Pittsburgh. I’m glad to be here.”

Presumably, he will remain elated for the next half decade.

On Tuesday, the Penguins signed the 23-year-old Pettersson to a five-year contract extension that begins at the start of the 2020-21 season. The deal will carry a salary cap hit of just over $4.025 million.

“I feel very fortunate to have this opportunity,” Pettersson said Tuesday in a conference. “I said before as soon as I got to Pittsburgh, this is a place you want to be. With the history they have and the winning mentality and the core group still being here, I felt this was by far the best option. I haven’t really thought about anything else but being here a long time. I’m glad it worked out.”

The framework of such a lucrative deal had been in place since the summer.

“Well, we had an agreement with Marcus and his agent (Peter Wallen) in training camp,” general manager Jim Rutherford said by phone. “It didn’t work out because we didn’t have the cap space. At that time, Marcus was good enough to work with us and sign his one-year agreement, and we said at the earliest time that we can extend this agreement, we will. And that was Jan. 1, and that’s when we started talking to him and got it done.”

Having that agreement made it easier for Pettersson to accept the one-year deal he signed in September.

“I trust the organization and I wanted to do something that was good for the team,” Pettersson said. “I wanted to play as well. Me and my agent put a lot of trust (in the team) and rightfully so. This is an organization that is trustworthy and everything like that. We didn’t want to be in the situation that we were in, but it was a unique situation. It was big trust there.

“We didn’t have any details per se. It was more of a handshake. The situation we were in the summer with the cap being what it was, it just was not possible. They were pretty clear from the beginning that they believe in me and I wanted to lay that same trust in them. It worked out well. No details we had but came to a handshake (agreement). Jim said as soon as we can, we can start looking over the next deal and work from there. That put a lot encouraging thoughts in my head. I just wanted to do the best I can over the year this year and prove that they still wanted me for the long term.”

Acquired in a trade that sent tantalizing but ultimately unappetizing forward prospect Daniel Sprong to the Anaheim Ducks in December 2018, Pettersson has become one of the team’s top-four defensemen over the past 14 months.

One of five members of the team who have played in all 50 games this season, Pettersson has 15 points (one goal, 14 assists).

Averaging a career-best of 19 minutes, 22 seconds of ice time this season, the 6-foot-3, 177-pound Pettersson has been paired with 22-year-old rookie defenseman John Marino since veteran blue liner Justin Schultz left the lineup with an undisclosed injury Dec. 17.

“I put a lot of that credit into the organization,” Pettersson said. “As soon as I got here, I felt like I could really, really develop. With the core group and the mentality, both in our room and the whole organization, that I’ve grown a lot. I’ve been playing more and more. Obviously, with some injuries to our key guys, it opens up some opportunities.

“But as soon as I got here, they were not afraid to see what I could do and put faith in me out on the ice. I think that’s something that boosts confidence in me. I feel like they believe in me and they believe that I can be out there and (be a) difference. I feel like I’ve grown multiple steps since I’ve got here. It’s only been 14 months. I feel like I can grow a lot more here.”

Recently on a radio show with team broadcaster Josh Getzoff, Rutherford suggested Pettersson and Marino could mature into a top pair and play with the organization for more than a decade.

“(Pettersson’s) a really good player,” Rutherford said Wednesday. “He’s tall. He’s got a long reach. He can skate. He’s got hockey sense. He can move the puck. My point about them being here 10 years is because of their age now. I’m not going to say that about a guy that’s 33. I’m talking about a guy that’s 23.

“Yeah, we’re really pleased with Marcus’ play. He’s a terrific team guy and a terrific young player. We really liked him when we were making that trade. And he’s just continued to improve. What’s it’s really done is it’s helped structure our core of getting some young defensemen into our top six. Now, we have him and Marino which is not only good for now but good for the future.”

Pettersson feels he is not close to approaching his ceiling with the Penguins.

“I still want to be stronger and put more weight on,” he said. “That’s something that always has been something I want to do. From a playing standpoint, continue to grow as a player and a person too.

“With this year being so different and with all the injuries that we’ve had, it’s allowed me to put myself in opportunities to play in big moments and play against some of the top lines from the other teams. It’s something that I feel like I for sure want to keep doing and grow in that aspect. That’s the kind of defenseman I want to be too.”

Notes:

• Rutherford declined to comment on the status of any potential contract negotiations with other pending restricted free agents including goaltender Matt Murray.

• Rutherford did not offer any updates on Schultz or other injured players such as defenseman Brian Dumoulin or Dominik Kahun.

• The Penguins are in the midst of their bye from the NHL schedule and will not have any team activities until they practice on Thursday in Cranberry.

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