Jeff Petry and Ryan Poehling were traded to the Pittsburgh Penguins by the Montreal Canadiens on Saturday for Mike Matheson and a fourth-round pick in the 2023 NHL Draft.
Petry, a 34-year-old defenseman, had 27 points (six goals, 21 assists) in 68 games last season. He has three years remaining on a four-year, $25 million contract ($6.25 million average annual value) he signed with the Canadiens on Sept. 25, 2020.
“When you’re trading for good players, you’re going to have to give up good players,” Penguins general manager Ron Hextall said. “Mike is a good player. We certainly valued Mike but we just feel like Jeff, at this point, is a little better fit for us. He can play all situations, he can log big minutes. We’re feeling pretty good about our right side and when you get an opportunity to add a player of Jeff Petry‘s magnitude we felt like it was a good fit with our group.”
Selected by the Edmonton Oilers in the second round (No. 45) of the 2006 NHL Draft, Petry has 322 points (87 goals, 235 assists) in 803 regular-season games for the Oilers and Canadiens, and has 13 points (five goals, eight assists) in 48 Stanley Cup Playoff games.
“In any trade that we were going to contemplate with Pittsburgh, or any other team, that involved Jeff Petry, one of the elements that had to either come in the trade or we had to be able to thereafter acquire was a defenseman,” Canadiens general manager Kent Hughes said.
[RELATED:Â 2022-23 NHL Trade Tracker]
The trade brings Petry closer to the family home in Michigan, where his wife, Julie, and four sons live. He requested a trade from Montreal last season.
“He was very thankful, appreciative that he could go to a team, one, in the [United States], which we all know makes life easier for him or for his family, but also that it’s a team that’s going all-in here to try to win a Stanley Cup,” Hughes said.
Poehling, a 23-year-old forward, can become a restricted free agent after this season. The No. 25 pick in the 2017 NHL Draft has 22 points (13 goals, nine assists) in 85 NHL games, all for Montreal, including 17 points (nine goals, eight assists) in 57 games last season.
“When Ryan was drafted, we really liked him,” Hextall said, “felt like he’s a big body (6-foot-2, 196 pounds) that’s going to get better. Things haven’t gone exactly. I don’t think, the way that he would have liked him to go in Montreal, and we’re hoping that sometimes a change can spur a guy on and we’re hoping he can be a good two-way player for us.”
The Penguins acquired Petry hours after trading defenseman John Marino to the New Jersey Devils for defenseman Ty Smith. They traded Matheson to the Canadiens after the 28-year-old defenseman set NHL career highs in goals (11), assists (20) and points (31) in 74 games last season. He has four seasons remaining on an eight-year contract he signed with the Florida Panthers on Oct. 9, 2017.
Pittsburgh acquired Matheson in a trade with Florida on Sept. 24, 2020. He has 138 points (49 goals, 89 assists) in 417 regular-season games with the Panthers and Penguins, and seven points (one goal, six assists) in 20 playoff games.
“Mike Matheson is a defenseman who was playing top-four minutes (18:48 per game) in Pittsburgh that brings a lot of the qualities that we lose in a Jeff Petry in terms of his ability to transport the puck,” Hughes said. “I also know that as an individual, I really feel comfortable that Mike is the kind of person in our locker room at this point in his career who can assist our young players. I think Mike is a five-star human being who can be of great assistance to our club and helping our young players.”
The Penguins signed defenseman Jan Rutta to a three-year, $8.25 million contract ($2.75 million AAV) on July 13. Though Pittsburgh has nine defensemen, Hextall said another trade isn’t necessarily coming.
“We’ll look at everything that comes along as we go and if we can strengthen one area, we’ll certainly look at it,” Hextall said. “But I think part of our biggest issue was our cap situation. It’s a little closer to being compliant now, so certainly feel a little bit better about it than I did the other day. But we like our nine defensemen, so we’ll kind of see where it goes and at some point here if there’s a move to be made, I mean you’re [going to have to] look at everything no matter what position.”
The Canadiens also agreed to a two-year contract with unrestricted free agent Rem Pitlick on Saturday. The 25-year-old center had 26 points (nine goals, 17 assists) in 46 games for Montreal last season after he was claimed off waivers from the Minnesota Wild on Jan. 12. He has 39 points (15 goals, 24 assists) in 77 NHL games with the Nashville Predators, Wild and Canadiens.
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