Montreal Canadiens: Five Potential Jeff Petry Trades

The Montreal Canadiens are going to be sellers at the trade deadline, so the only real question is, how much will they sell?

It is just a matter of time before pending free agents like Ben Chiarot, Brett Kulak, Mathieu Perreault and Chris Wideman are dealt. But who else is going to be dealt from the Canadiens before the March 21st cutoff date?

Well, rumours are swirling pretty strongly that Jeff Petry will be.

Petry is not having a good season, but he has been sensational for the Canadiens over the past four seasons. From 2017-2021, Petry scored 48 goals and 170 points. This put him 12th among defensemen in points and seventh among all NHL blue liners in goals. He was also great defensively in that time, playing a big role on the penalty kill and taking on top opposition regularly at even strength.

This season has not gone well for Petry. He has just one goal and six points in 37 games. It sounds like he has asked to be traded, possibly explaining his play dropping off. His family is living south of the border in Michigan and it seems to have had a big impact on his on-ice performance.

HIs struggles could affect his trade value, as could his four year contract with a cap hit of $6.25 million. But, who is having a good season in Montreal this year?

The Canadiens need to find a trade partner who believes Petry’s play this season is related to the entire team being awful, and his off-ice situation sucking the love of the game out of him. A trade to an American team would allow him to live with his family again, and would also guarantee he is on a better hockey team.

Literally anywhere in the NHL is better than Montreal right now. Which is probably part of the reason Petry isn’t playing like he has in the past.

The Canadiens are not going to give him away. They are going to find a spot that values him and they will get fair value in return. If the Canadiens can take back a big contract another team wants to shed, they will definitely get a first round pick or a top prospect for Petry.

Who could be that fit? Let’s look at some of the likely destinations.

Detroit Red Wings

A trade with the Detroit Red Wings would make sense for a few reasons, but also be complicated for a few reasons as well.

It does make sense to try and get Petry to Michigan, where his family is currently living. One of his main issues this season is obviously not being able to see his family who are living in Michigan while Petry is in Montreal.

It would also make sense for the Red Wings to try and add a veteran defender so they can move out Nick Leddy and Marc Staal before the trade deadline. The Red Wings will be sellers, but recently brought in Leddy and Staal to help mentor their younger blue liners and to allow those young defencemen to develop properly before being thrust into bigger roles they aren’t ready to take on.

Both Leddy and Staal are free agents at season’s end so the Red Wings could add picks or prospects by moving them out, but then bring in Petry to play the leadership role for the next few years.

However, Petry is a right shot defender, while Leddy and Staal both play the left side. The Red Wings already have Moritz Seider and Filip Hronek on the right side, so they don’t really need another top four right defender.

Still, the Red Wings could use a local veteran to provide leadership and might be willing to give up a struggling young prospect with high upside to add a player like Petry.

Dallas Stars

This trade only makes sense if two things happen before the trade deadline.

First: the Dallas Stars decide they are buyers and have a good chance of making the playoffs this season.

Second: John Klingberg absolutely will not re-sign and demands to be traded before the trade deadline.

The Stars could then trade Klingberg to an Eastern Conference team for a nice package of picks and prospects, and then give up a good prospect for Jeff Petry to replace Klingberg.

The Stars would be a good fit for Petry, since he could settle into a second pairing role with a good defensive player in Esa Lindell. Playing behind the top, minute munching pairing of Ryan Suter and Miro Heiskanen would allow Petry to play the same role he has for the Canadiens the past few seasons when he was on the second pairing behind Shea Weber.

The Stars might be reluctant to give up 20 year old centre Mavrik Bourque, but if they get a first round pick and a really good prospect for Klingberg, it could make Bourque available. Bourque hasn’t played a ton of games over the past two years because of Covid shutdowns, but he has 63 points in just 38 games during that time.

Los Angeles Kings

The Los Angeles Kings have a ridiculously deep prospect pool. They have drafted so well in recent years, they almost definitely have the best group of up and comers in the NHL at the moment.

They also have a bit of an opportunity to make some playoff noise as soon as this season. The Pacific Division is not the league’s best and though the Vegas Golden Knights look really good, home ice advantage in the first round of the playoffs is up for grabs for the next best team in the division.

With some tinkering, the Kings could take advantage of that fact and allow their leaders, Anze Kopitar, Drew Doughty and Jonathan Quick to pass on some playoff knowledge to the youngsters that are already in the lineup, like Quinton Byfield, Tobias Bjornfot and Arthur Kaliyev.

To get there, the Kings could use a little help on defence with Sean Walker out for the season. Petry could step into a second pairing role behind Doughty and help guide a young defender like Bjornfot.

The Kings have some cap space but would probably want to move a little out to take on Petry’s $6.25 million. Olli Maatta would be a nice fit to balance some salary. The Kings also have Kopitar and former Canadiens centre Phillip Danault locked in down the middle of the ice. Byfield has cracked the lineup at centre as well and young players like Lias Andersson, Blake Lizotte and Rasmus Kupari are already battling for ice time.

Alex Turcotte, Francesco Pinelli, and Gabe Vilardi will be knocking on the door for an NHL role next season as well. So, the Kings move one of them for a veteran right defender.

You know Danault will put in a good word for Petry and Marc Bergevin, the guy who signed Petry to this deal, is an advisor for the Kings now.

Nashville Predators

The Nashville Predators are holding their own in a deep Central Division. The Colorado Avalanche are at the top and the Minnesota Wild and St. Louis Blues are legit Stanley Cup contenders as well.

The Preds are right there with those three, but could use a little support to try and keep up.

Nashville is well known for its great defence over the years, but have taken a bit of a step back on the blue line this season. Ryan Ellis was traded to the Philadelphia Flyers last offseason and P.K. Subban is skating in New Jersey nowadays.

The Preds have leaned heavily on Roman Jokiharju and Mattias Ekholm on the left side of the defence, but could use some help on the right. Alexandre Carrier has been good, Phillippe Myers has not and Dante Fabbro is working his way into being a reliable top four guy, but maybe isn’t quite ready.

Jeff Petry is ready. Putting him on a second pairing with a defensive stalwart like Ekholm would be a perfect fit for Petry. If the Canadiens retain a bit of salary to make Petry a $5 million player going forward, the deal would be terrific for the Preds.

The Canadiens would target a top prospect like Phillip Tomasino who has 15 points in 29 games at the NHL level this season and 32 points in 29 games in the AHL.