Montreal Canadiens: Five Contracts That Will Be Impossible To Trade

Jeff Petry

Not long ago Jeff Petry would have had a ton of trade value. He played six full seasons with the Habs before this one and increased his points per game totals every season.

He slowly but surely developed from a decent second pairing guy to a player that got a few Norris Trophy votes last season. He wasn’t really a contender for the trophy given to the best defenceman in the league on an annual basis, but he had a fourth place vote and two fifth place votes and he truly deserved them after scoring 42 points in 55 games.

It’s not just that Petry was able to score points, he played a terrific two-way game for the Canadiens over the past half-decade.

So, when his four year extension, with a cap hit of $6.25 million kicked in this season, it didn’t seem like all that much of a problem. Sure, he is 34 years old and wasn’t likely to keep increasing his scoring totals, but then again, Shea Weber was out for the year, so the thought was Petry could elevate even further given an expanded role.

Unfortunately, Petry’s game has gone entirely in the wrong direction. He has looked awful this season. He has not scored a goal and has just two assists in 27 games played. There are goaltenders in the NHL with more points that Petry. Okay, just one goaltender, but the fact Frederik Andersen is outscoring Petry nearly halfway through the season is shocking.

There are probably teams out there that remember the role Petry had in last season’s playoff run and would be interested. But one look at that contract that has three more years and a $6.25 million cap hit and they are going to turn away.

Petry has been unrecognizable this season, and for that reason, the Habs couldn’t trade him right now for anything.