Canadiens Trade Talk
Canadiens Retaining Salary Could Lead To Another Petry Trade
Now that the Montreal Canadiens have facilitated a three-way trade with the San Jose Sharks and the Pittsburgh Penguins, the attention turns to Jeff Petry.
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Petry, 35, has two years left on his current contract, which pays him an annual average value of $6.25 million.
However, given the Penguins retained 25% of Petry’s contract, his cap hit will only count for $4,69 million of the allocated salary cap space.
Retention Options
Before we get ahead of ourselves, there’s still a chance that Petry may end up staying in Montreal. The issues regarding his final year with the Habs were all related to the pandemic, which is no longer an issue.
And it’s also worth pointing out that despite the downtick in production toward the end, statistically speaking, Petry was the Canadiens’ best defencemen for roughly half a decade.
He’s no longer in his prime, and he’s likely to continue his decline, but he would be considered an upgrade on many of the options the Canadiens currently have on the right side.
That being said, the Montreal Canadiens are in a rebuild, which means it’s the perfect time to develop young players. Petry’s presence in the lineup would certainly mitigate those opportunities.
If general manager Kent Hughes is inclined to move Petry, the mere fact that his contract has already been discounted by 25 percent should lead to more interest around the league.
After all, Petry still managed to earn five goals and 26 assists in 61 games for the Penguins last year, and his underlying numbers were much better than most would expect.
But if Hughes decides to sweeten the pot by retaining more salary, the suitors around the NHL should be plentiful.
Whether it’s another 25 percent retention or the full 50 percent option, acquiring an established top-four defenceman such as Petry for under $3 million per season suddenly fits into many teams’ financial plans, even in the current NHL landscape, which has put several teams into a difficult position given the salary cap did not rise significantly ahead of the 2023-24 season.
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I have a couple of issues with this article. First, this:
The issues regarding his final year with the Habs were all related to the pandemic, which is no longer an issue.
ALL related to the pandemic? You think his precious wifey will risk that again, now being back in MTL (Quebec)? Last I checked, Covid is NOT dead – as in 100% gone. That means there is always the chance it could come roaring back this winter. And if the “Petrys” completely thought this was a pandemic issue and nothing else, they could have easily waited it out just one stinking season, and all the restriction nonsense would have been over. So this statement above lacks merit. Me thinks there was “something else” involved, and the pandemic thing was the scapegoat, so to speak.
With this in mind, does any really think this whole thing will work out for the Habs if he stays this season? I, for one, seriously doubt it would. And he now clogs up the D corps, especially if Mailloux or Rein are ready to play.
He MUST be traded ASAP.
I agree another 25% salary retention will likely be required to move him. Then his salary is now only $3.XM. Certainly, there will be offers coming from that, so it shouldn’t be hard to move him out with that as the dangle. If they can get a 2nd rd pick for him – fine. But I go no higher than 25%…unless I can get a 1st rd pick in exchange.
AND, they now need to trade one of the three veteran goalies…NO WAY do or should the Habs start the season with 3 vet goalies on the docket. NO WAY.
It was the Trudeau’s mandates
Very likely covid was the straw that broke the camel’s back but hockey is a business so Petry lives with a business decision which he doesn’t like but that’s life. Pretty sure Petry will get traded again as I don’t think the team much cares for him. He’s the one who skated by while his teammate got mugged.
ZERO chance I see Petry playing for us this season. I’ll be shocked if he’s here by the end of the week. I don’t think him getting moved ASAP is even debatable. The bigger question is what to do with DeSmith? Montembeault is our defacto #1 this year and Allen’s contract makes him untradeable in today’s market (even if we retained 50% it seems extremely unlikely we could move him). That makes DeSmith the guy to go. His salary & term makes him a lot easier to move than Allen. Hopefully we don’t waste a salary retention slot on him to get it done. Right now, this trade is pointless for me. We just alleviated a bit of the logjam at forward, but in doing so, worsened the overcrowding on D and in goal. Once we move Petry and one of the goalies, things should look a lot better for us. Hopefully it comes sooner than later.
PS All the kudos being thrown Hughes’s way need to be shared with Gorton too. They’re a two-headed entity.
Petry will be gone thankfully so I don’t think there’s an “overcrowding” on D, plus he’s a right shot if they do keep (hope NOT!)
Have you been following the goalie situation? They don’t have enough and if Primeau is lost to waivers, not that big a loss other than a goalie shortage what then? DEFINITELY NO “overcrowding” on goalies!
Only 2 spots available in NHL, so who goes? Allen? Good luck trading him. If not, good luck getting DeSmith through waivers.
There’s only 2 spots for goalies in the NHL. Who goes? Good luck moving Allen’s contract. Four goalies IS overcrowding. Losing Primeau on waivers (although not a great loss) is bad asset management. Losing any players for nothing is a waste unless you are trying to dump their contract. DeSmith will have to be traded too or we’re likely to lose him on waivers. That’s basically the definition of overcrowding.
No way de Smith was definitely the prize here that’s what Hughes was looking with a little de Smith. Will. Shine
So where does he play? Who goes to make room & how?
The bigger issue for me with Petry was, the team was losing, playing poorly and as a veteran he SHOULD have been a leader yet he’s WHINING that he wants to be traded because his poor overworked wife can’t handle three boys without help?!? Give me a break!
Not to mention, when Monty got run by whoever it was, Petry was on the ice and did NOTHING! Said he “didn’t see it”! PLEASE!!! AGAIN, NOT a leader! A WHINY WEENIE!!!
MOVE HIM ASAP!!!