Montreal Canadiens: Jeff Petry Reacquired, Mike Hoffman Shipped Out

On Sunday, the Canadiens made some news, reacquiring Jeff Petry (25% retained) from the Pittsburgh Penguins in addition to goaltender Casey DeSmith, forward Nathan Legare, and a 2025 second-round pick. The trade is part of a three-team deal that allowed the Penguins to acquire Erik Karlsson from the San Jose Sharks. Mike Hoffman is being sent to San Jose, and Rem Pitlick will head to Pittsburgh.

The departure of both Hoffman and Pitlick can almost be considered an addition by subtraction as the Canadiens move out two players, clearing up what was a big log jam at the forward position. And being able to move Hoffman without retaining his salary is enormous as well. Now, the Canadiens can let some young players push for a roster spot.

The addition of Legare is likely more of an acquisition for Laval, as the Montreal native had just 19 points in 68 games last year. At 22 years old, he can still develop, but I don’t suspect he will push for a spot in the NHL this year. Still, adding more depth in Laval is always a good thing, and it’s a bonus when that depth comes from players from Quebec.

Acquiring DeSmith brings up a lot of questions about what this means for the goaltending position. Does this mean the Canadiens are going to move Jake Allen? It could, especially if Allen can fetch them a decent return on the open market. It could also just be insurance in case Cayden Primeau gets claimed off of waivers, a possibility this season. The Canadiens could also flip DeSmith, but I don’t think he holds as much value. He posted a 3.17 GAA and a .905 SV% in 33 games last year.

The 2025 second-rounder could be something to keep an eye on as well. The Penguins are an older team, coming off a season in which they failed to make the postseason. The addition of Karlsson should make them better, but will that be true two years from now? If not, the Canadiens could have another top-50 pick here.

As for Jeff Petry, the salary retention is a big part of this deal, at least to me. Petry’s cap hit with the Canadiens is now just $4,687,500, which becomes even more affordable if the Canadiens were to retain 50% of, a real possibility. This is important because all signs point to the Canadiens once again trading Jeff Petry, possibly working on that deal as we speak. He may start the season with the Canadiens, but I suspect the Canadiens fully intend to move Jeff Petry.

This is good work by Kent Hughes, who did a great job trading Jeff Petry the first time, getting Mike Matheson back in return. Now he can try and move Petry again, this time at a much cheaper cap hit. It’ll be interesting to see what Hughes can do in the Petry Saga part three. We don’t know much, but we can tell Hughes is an outside-the-box thinker, so everything is on the table.

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