It’s no secret that the Montreal Canadiens will attempt to trade defenceman Jeff Petry (again) after reacquiring him in a blockbuster deal with the Pittsburgh Penguins over the weekend.
In a recent interview on The Sick Podcast with Tony Marinaro, Sportnet’s Eric Engels said he touched base with the Petry family after the trade broke and revealed that they are trying to adapt to their surprise return to Montreal.
“I touched base with the family just to check in and see how everybody’s doing. Everybody’s doing all right,” Engels said. “Whatever happens, they’re going to roll with it.”
Neither Petry nor Canadiens general manager Kent Hughes have spoken to the media yet about that trade, which means another deal could be on the horizon. But if the price isn’t right, the blueliner may have to stay put with his former team for a bit.
“It’s a lot to handle for sure,” Engels added. “But, they’re rolling with the punches and dealing with the reality that, if for whatever reason, Kent Hughes isn’t able to trade Jeff between now and the beginning of the season, they’re going to come to Montreal and make the very best of the situation.”
Does Jeff Petry play at all for the Canadiens?@TonyMarinaro and @EricEngels discuss the #Habs 3-way trade.
Full pod👇🏻
Watch: https://t.co/FLVWWBds0o
Listen: https://t.co/Mrzs9GzVWQ#GoHabsGo #thesickpodcast pic.twitter.com/yyV2Yqq3qv— The Sick Podcast with Tony Marinaro (@thesickpodcasts) August 8, 2023
Engels also reported that the 35-year-old’s camp denied a trade to San Jose, allowing the Canadiens to enter the Erik Karlsson deal between the two teams and offload forward Mike Hoffman and Rem Pitlick in the process.
“I’ve had numerous sources confirm to me that they denied a trade to San Jose before all this went down,” Engels explained. “San Jose was on their no-trade list.”
Petry, who was dealt to Montreal along with Casey DeSmith, Nathan Legare, and Pittsburgh’s 2025 second-round draft pick, did not include the Habs on his 15-team no-trade list. But that’s likely because he never expected to be dealt there again.
Nonetheless, with the Penguins retaining 25% of the Ann Arbor, Michigan, native’s $6.25 million annual salary, the player’s value could fetch a good return on the market.
TSN reporter Chris Johnston recently chimed in on the situation during an episode of his show on the Steve Dangle Podcast Network. Johnston said the Dallas Stars are a team to observe in the Petry trade watch.
“A team to keep an eye on is Dallas. I know that they’re a team, who, over the last couple of years have had interest in Jeff Petry,” he explained. “All of a sudden, the conditions are in place.”
Over 61 games with Pittsburgh last season, Petry put up five goals and 31 points. His most productive offensive campaign came during the shortened 2020-2021 season, which saw him net 12 goals and 42 points over 55 games with Montreal.
In July of 2022 Petry was moved by the Canadiens, along with forward Ryan Poehling, to Pittsburgh in exchange for defenceman Mike Matheson and a fourth-round pick in the 2023 draft.
Follow Channels and Categories