The Montreal Canadiens should be sellers at the trade deadline. There is a chance they could be enticed to trade Jeff Petry. If they do, what kind of a return can we expect?
The Montreal Canadiens are in the midst of their extended All-Star break and won’t be back on the ice until Monday when they face the Washington Capitals. They currently sit 12th in the Eastern Conference standings, but are just one point up on the New York Rangers who have played three less games. That puts the Habs 13th in points percentage.
That is a long way from the postseason picture. When a team is far from the playoffs and the we get past the All-Star break, they typically begin to sell of veterans pieces and add young players, prospects and draft picks to their organization. The Canadiens are likely to be in a selling mindset as we approach the trade deadline on February 24th.
They have a few players who will be unrestricted free agents on July 1st who are the most likely to be dealt. This list includes Nate Thompson, Ilya Kovalchuk and Marco Scandella. I wouldn’t be shocked to see Nick Cousins, who will be a restricted free agent, join them on their way out the door.
None of those players are going to bring back a fantastic prospect or a top draft pick. Kovalchuk has the potential to land the biggest return but teams could have signed him for less than a million bucks as a free agent less than a month ago. Are they really going to target him in a trade and give up a big asset, after basically saying he was worthless on New Year’s Day? That would be a tough sell to their boss.
If Montreal is going to add a first round pick or a top prospect to their system, it will require them to trade away someone who has more term on their contract than these pending free agents. According to TSN’s Trade Bait Board, that someone could be Jeff Petry.
Petry has been the team’s second pairing right defender since he was acquired on the trade deadline from Edmonton five years ago. He cost the Habs second and fourth round draft picks, but he has greatly increased his value since then with strong play and has one additional year left on his deal.
A top four defender that has an added year of term on his contract? Sounds a lot like the Jake Muzzin trade a year ago that brought the former Los Angeles King to Toronto. It cost the Maple Leafs a first round pick and prospects Carl Grundstrom and Sean Durzi.
Grundstrom was a 21 year old Swedish winger who was taken in the second round of the draft in 2016 and was showing promise during his first year with the Toronto Marlies in the AHL. Durzi is a defensemen that was taken in the second round of the 2018 draft and was scoring at over a point per game pace in the OHL.
If the Habs decide to trade Petry, it will take a similar package. Let’s take a look at three potential trades involving the Canadiens right shooting defender.