Montreal Canadiens: Three Possible Jeff Petry Trade Scenarios

The Montreal Canadiens surprisingly got involved in the Erik Karlsson trade sweepstakes, though it was not to acquire the star defenseman. They were able to play mortgage broker for the Pittsburgh Penguins and San Jose Sharks to make the financials of the deal work out for both sides.

Essentially what the Canadiens did was take on some money and a couple of contracts so the Penguins had the cap space to add Karlsson to their lineup. They also added a second round pick and a prospect named Nathan Legare in the process.

The two players the Habs acquired are not unknowns around the league. The Canadiens reacquired Jeff Petry who spent nearly a decade in Montreal before being traded to the Penguins about a year ago. They also added goaltender Casey DeSmith from the Pens as well.

Where the Canadiens are in their rebuild right now, they don’t really need either player. Petry is a 35 year old defenseman and is not going to be around through the rebuild. DeSmith is yet another goaltending option who joins Jake Allen, Sam Montembeault and Cayden Primeau looking for starts in Montreal.

That means neither player may be long for Montreal. Petry has two years left on his contract, and after the Penguins ate a portion of it, he currently has a cap hit of $4,687,500 for the next two years. DeSmith has one season left on his deal with a cap hit of $1.8 million.

While Petry may not be the player he once was, he is still a capable two-way second pairing defender and could help a lot of teams around the league. If the Canadiens do indeed put him right back on the trade market as expected, there would be a lot of potential suitors that he could help.

Let’s take a look at three teams that could make a deal for Jeff Petry.