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Montreal Canadiens: Three Potential Jeff Petry Trades

By Ken MacMillan

MONTREAL, QC - JANUARY 9: Jeff Petry #26 of the Montreal Canadiens fires a slap shot against the Edmonton Oilers in the NHL game at the Bell Centre on January 9, 2020 in Montreal, Quebec, Canada. (Photo by Francois Lacasse/NHLI via Getty Images)
MONTREAL, QC - JANUARY 9: Jeff Petry #26 of the Montreal Canadiens fires a slap shot against the Edmonton Oilers in the NHL game at the Bell Centre on January 9, 2020 in Montreal, Quebec, Canada. (Photo by Francois Lacasse/NHLI via Getty Images) /
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MONTREAL, QC – JANUARY 13:  (Photo by Vincent Ethier/Icon Sportswire via Getty Images)
MONTREAL, QC – JANUARY 13:  (Photo by Vincent Ethier/Icon Sportswire via Getty Images) /

Calgary Flames

The Canadiens don’t have to move Petry. He has another year left on his contract and they could just elect to keep him and hope the team is healthier and better next year with him in the lineup. So, if a team wants to acquire him, they are going to have to step up with a really good offer.

If anyone wants Petry they will have to offer up a first round pick just to keep Marc Bergevin on the phone. Then they will have to add in a really good prospect or young NHL player with high potential, or two interesting young pieces that have the chance to turn in to solid players in the near future.

The Flames have not been shy in the Brad Treliving era to acquire players, especially defensemen, for draft picks. He traded a first and two seconds for Dougie Hamilton in 2015. Two years he traded a first and two seconds for Travis Hamonic. He acquired Brian Elliott for a second, Michael Stone for a third and a fifth, last year he grabbed Oscar Fantenberg for a fourth round pick.

Hamilton, Hamonic and Stone are all right handed defenders and so is Jeff Petry. There is certainly a fit for Petry on the Flames blue line short and long term. Immediately, he could step onto a top pairing with Mark Giordano and move T.J. Brodie down to the third pairing for the remainder of the season. Brodie hasn’t been terrific this season and has been bumped down the lineup for younger players like Rasmus Andersson at times already.

This would allow a third pairing of Brodie and Andersson that can skate really well and move the puck up ice with ease. A top four of Giordano with Petry and Noah Hanifin with Hamonic would give the Flames a chance to win their division and head into the postseason with an opportunity for a deep run.

Brodie and Hamonic are both free agents in July and could be walking away from Calgary. Keeping Petry around for an additional season to play top four minutes wouldn’t hurt the development of younger players like Just Valimaki and Andersson.

With Giordano, Hanifin and Valimaki on the left side, Kylington becomes expendable for the Flames. He is a terrific skater but has struggled defensively at the NHL level. He is 22 years old and has put up solid offensive numbers in the AHL over the past two seasons, and could become a steady puck moving defenseman at the NHL level if he can learn the defensive game in the coming years.

With Michael Frolik being traded earlier in the season, the Flames have enough cap space to make this work, but could use a few extra dollars to make the trade a little smoother. The Canadiens have a ton of cap space and could hang on to a small part of Petry’s contract next season to make the trade a little more enticing for the Flames.

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