Montreal Canadiens: Five Best American Players To Suit Up For Habs

4. Jeff Petry

When Jeff Petry arrived in Montreal in 2015 it appeared his stay would be short. He was brought in as a “rental” at the trade deadline, or so it seemed. Before hitting free agency that summer, he decided to sign an extension to stay with the Habs for six more seasons. His $5.5 million cap hit sounded like a lot on the day he signed the deal, but has turned into a bargain.

In his first four full seasons with the Canadiens, he increased his point total every year and could have again this season with a strong finish. That won’t happen with the season on pause but his 11 goals and 40 points in 71 games was another strong year for the Ann Arbor, Michigan product.

Unfortunately, there has not been a ton of team success since Petry arrived but he has far exceeded individual expectations since he arrived in Montreal. His career high in points before being traded was 25 and he topped that in each of the past four seasons.

Petry took on a second pairing role behind P.K. Subban when he first came to Montreal, and has continued to play a strong game from that role since Subban was swapped out for Shea Weber. While Weber’s booming slap shot gets a lot of the attention, Petry plays a calm, smart, two-way game and has always given the Habs good minutes when Weber was out with injury.

In four and a half seasons in Montreal, Petry has scored 52 goals and 179 points in 385 games. He has one year left on that contract he signed in 2015 and even if he disappears for most of next season, he will have been worth every dollar.