Montreal Canadiens: Way Too Early Predictions for Habs Offseason

Habs trade Jeff Petry for good return.

It won’t be a surprise for anyone if Jeff Petry is traded. He asked to be dealt last season but didn’t get his wish. That was probably because he played so poorly to begin the season that no one wanted him.

Petry was in the first year of a four year extension that pays him an average of $6.25 million per year. He was also being outscored by Carolina Hurricanes goaltender Frederik Andersen for the first few weeks of the season.

He finally turned his game around after Martin St. Louis was hired as head coach and he showed down the stretch that he is still a two-way defender capable of playing in a good team’s top four. So, he re-established his trade value.

Now the Canadiens are in a position to deal him for a good, not terrific, return and it will likely happen at the NHL Draft. A team that is losing a top four right defenceman will be very interested in replacing that player with Petry.

A trade with the Dallas Stars who need to replace John Klingberg or the Pittsburgh Penguins who may need to replace Kris Letang is the most likely scenario. Having played so well down the stretch, the Canadiens should be able to get a second round pick for Petry, or possibly a late first if they are able to take back a bad contract like Anton Khudobin’s.