The Montreal Canadiens traded veteran defenseman Jeff PetryForward Ryan PoehlingTo the Pittsburgh Penguins Saturday, in return for defenseman Mike Matheson A fourth-round draft selection in 2023.
Petry is signed with a $6.25 Million salary-cap hit. Montreal did not receive any of Petry’s salary.
The veteran of 12 years has been a part of 803 NHL games, including those between the Canadiens et al. Edmonton Oilers. Petry was traded to Montreal last year and enjoyed a mostly positive tenure with the club. Petry, 34, was not as successful under Dominique Ducharme’s coaching. Petry asked for a trade to get out of Montreal in November.
Ducharme was dismissed mid-season, while Petry’s performance improved under a new coach Martin St. LouisVeteran still wants to move for family reasons.
Also, the Canadiens were clearly in a rebuilding phase. This would be a time when their young core was at the forefront. Petry’s contract made finding a willing trade partner difficult for Kent Hughes, the general manager of the Canadiens. Hughes was also not keen to dump Petry or keep any of his caps.
Petry ended a down season in Montreal after he scored six goals and scored 27 points in 68 of his games.
Hughes reiterated last week that Petry’s movement was a priority, but also stated that it had to be the right deal. The Canadiens have much-needed flexibility in their cap with $2.4 million of space available for next season by completing the trade.
Poehling, a former first round pick (25th overall), by Montreal in 2017, is Poehling. Poehling, 23, has been a solid forward in 85 NHL games and scored 13 goals and 22 assists. He is still signed through next season.
The Penguins were looking for a right-shot defenceman and traded Petry for Matheson. Pittsburgh still has an oversupply of NHL defensemen, so Petry will be paid nearly $2 million more per year than Matheson. This could be one of many moves by the Penguins in an effort to clear their logjam. Earlier Saturday, Pittsburgh dealt defenseman John Marino25 to the New Jersey Devils for defenseman Ty Smith, 22 and a third-round selection in the next year’s draft.
Matheson is a solid addition for Montreal. Matheson, who just finished a stellar season with Pittsburgh’s second pair (11 goals and 31 assists in 74 games), enjoys playing in transition, but isn’t afraid to stick in his zone. Although he doesn’t intend to be a top-pairing play, he should contribute consistently.