Montreal Canadiens: The future of Tomas Tatar and Jeff Petry
By Omar L
2) Should Jeff Petry and Tomas Tatar be extended or traded?
EL: That topic was debated before this season trade deadline, and I honestly think the right move was made to keep them. Not just because Marc Bergevin envisions a playoff run next year but because they are both significant players on both sides of the ice.
Tomas Tatar is a goal scorer that averages 20 goals a year consistently, which is what the Habs need while Jeff Petry is a force on the blue line, not to mention the fact he is a veteran leader that can help younger defenseman. I personally think these two players should be extended long term, and I believe the only reason they were a topic of trade is because of the downward spiral Montreal was on.
SH: This, of course, hugely depends upon the amount of money each player will demand and for how many years; an educated guess may be 5×6.5 for Tatar and 4×7 for Petry. These figures are substantial and warrant a lot of thought. I doubt any decisions are made before the NHL Draft takes place since the Habs may get lucky with the addition of Jamie Drysdale, Marco Rossi or Lucas Raymond, which may make one of Tatar or Petry expendable.
If none of those players becomes a Hab, I would consider keeping Tatar and trading Petry. 40-point, defensively-reliable d-men are more valuable and harder to come by than 60-point wingers are, especially if that defenseman is right-handed. This is to say that Petry could fetch an extremely valuable package, and since he is a 32-year-old defenseman reliant on speed, I would be very tempted to sell high and not sign him to a risky contract. Tatar is three years younger than Petry and will be 30 when his current deal expires, which still gives him some good years of hockey beyond 2021.
He also has such amazing chemistry with Brendan Gallagher and Philip Danault, which is not something I would want to break up. If all goes well, the Canadiens could have Noah Juulsen and Cale Fleury manning the right side of the bottom two pairings, which would be facilitated by a slowly improving left side of the defence.