NHL Trade Chatter: As Draft Concludes, Petry Trade Buzz Picking Up

MONTREAL – The 2022 NHL Draft finished rounds 2-7 in what seemed like record speed Friday afternoon at the Bell Centre but the NHL trade market is expected to pick up even more starting next week.

While he wasn’t moved on the NHL Trade market over the last two days at the NHL Draft, Montreal Canadiens defenceman Jeff Petry continues to be a hot name in NHL Trade rumours.

“I think that gets done within next two weeks for sure,” one NHL executive told Montreal Hockey Now. “I heard they were close on something here (at the NHL Draft), but obviously the Habs had a lot going on here so we’ll see where it leads.”

In the immediate aftermath of the trade that saw the Tampa Bay Lightning send defenceman Ryan McDonagh to the Nashville Predators last Sunday, the Jeff Petry NHL trade rumours picked up again. Some wondered whether the rather minimal return that the Predators got from the Lightning would create a trend.

“Anytime a similar positional player is traded, you look at it, and, from a management perspective, you’re analyzing the breakdown and the return,” TSN Insider Darren Dreger said Monday in regards to how the Ryan McDonagh trade could influence a trade return for Petry. “I think you can draw some similarities with how they play the game, etc. This is a curious one, just given the remainder of term left on Ryan McDonagh’s contract. It was a complex arrangement left on the deal due to the term left on the 33-year-old’s contract.”

Could a NHL trade between the Dallas Stars and the Montreal Canadiens be that ‘something’ the executive was referencing?

On Wednesday, news broke that defenceman John Klingberg will hit the unrestricted free agent market on July 13. That will leave the Stars with a giant offensive hole on their blue line. With the very likely potential that this could happen, Petry has been linked to the Stars on the NHL Trade market for months now and speculation Petry would wind up in Dallas has only increased. However, NHL sources confirmed to Montreal Hockey Now that the Detroit Red Wings, Los Angeles Kings, and Carolina Hurricanes have expressed interest in Petry as well.