The Montreal Canadiens made an excellent trade when they acquired Jeff Petry from the Edmonton Oilers. With his contract up in a year, will they extend him when the time comes?
The Montreal Canadiens were in need of an upgrade to the right side of their defence in 2015. The Edmonton Oilers were having a typically poor season and were looking to move on from Jeff Petry who was a pending unrestricted free agent.
The two Canadian teams hooked up on a deal that sent Petry to the Habs for second and fourth round picks. Petry played well for the Canadiens and was a perfect fit as the second pairing defenceman behind P.K. Subban on the right side. The Canadiens wisely signed him to a six-year contract extension with a cap hit of $5.5 million per year.
Petry is now in the fifth year of that six year deal and continue to improve each year it seems. In 2017-18, he set career highs with 12 goals and 42 points. Last season, he once again upped the bar for himself, scoring 13 goals and 46 points while taking on more minutes than ever before.
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This season, Petry is still playing a huge role for the Habs. He isn’t on pace to set career highs again, but he isn’t far of his far off the mark either. He has three goals and 16 points in 33 games, which would see him score seven goals and 40 points.
Those are pretty solid numbers for a defender. He plays in all situations, takes on a lot of minutes against tough competition and produces plenty of offence for the Habs. He has been worth every penny of his current contract, but is he going to be worth extending when the time comes?
The American defender just turned 32 years old earlier this month. He has one more year left on his contract, so he will be 33 when it expires at the end of next season. He is going to command another big payday on a long-term deal, but will it be with the Canadiens?
The Canadiens already have Shea Weber locked up for six more seasons with a cap hit just shy of $8 million. Weber is already 34 and Carey Price is a 32 year old goaltender that earns $10.5 million for each of the next six seasons as well. With Petry surely looking for another longer term deal, would it be wise for the Canadiens to lock him up and be paying three players in their late thirties a combined $25 million per season?
Signing players a few years after they turn 30 is becoming increasingly risky in the National Hockey League. The Habs already are crossing their fingers hoping Price and Weber can continue their strong play into their late thirties. It wouldn’t make a ton of sense to hope Petry can also maintain his high play when he is 37.
The Chicago Blackhawks are definitely regretting signing Brent Seabrook to a long-term extension after his 30th birthday. Marc-Edouard Vlasic was rock solid for the San Jose Sharks but he is only in the second year of an eight year contract and the Sharks would love to tear it to pieces.
So, if it doesn’t make a lot of sense for the Canadiens to re-sign Petry at the end of next season, what is the best route to go with him?
The Canadiens are a middling team this season and have been for a few years. They keep beating good teams and making us fans believe they are playoff contenders. Then they go out the next night and lose to a cellar dweller and make us think they are in contention for Alexis Lafreniere and the first overall pick.
If the Habs were a lock for the postseason, obviously they should keep Petry for that run and see what happens. He still has another year on his contract so there is no rush to trade him. However, just missing the playoffs for two more years and then losing Petry for nothing as a free agent is definitely the worst case scenario.
Also, these defenders in their thirties can lose their value very quickly, so it might make the most sense to move Petry this season, so the team that acquires him has two playoff runs with him and will offer up more for his services since he will give them two chances at a deep playoff run.
The Canadiens will probably wait out the year, because the Atlantic Division is wide open and it’s starting to look like 91 points might be enough to make the third playoff spot in the division. If the Habs still have a chance at the playoffs, they will likely hang on to Petry.
However, after losing to the Detroit Red Wings once again in their last game, the Habs are showing signs they may not be a playoff team. If the Habs fall further out of the race while the Tampa Bay Lightning, Florida Panthers and Toronto Maple Leafs catch fire, it would make sense to dangle Petry at the trade deadline this season and maximize the return on a veteran player.