Petry wanted to be dealt for family reasons. Canadiens GM Ken Hughes had openly said that the team would attempt to fulfill Petry's request, but only if it was in a trade that made sense for the team. To that end, the Penguins had to surrender a solid defenseman in Mike Matheson, but Jeff Petry should be an upgrade. Petry had six goals, 27 points, 117 blocks, and 140 hits in 68 contests while averaging 22:07 minutes last season and that was a down campaign for him. He has a good chance to bounce back in Pittsburgh and record over 40 points. Petry does come with a $6.25 million cap hit for each of the last three seasons, but between trading Matheson in this exchange and dealing John Marino earlier in the day, Pittsburgh can accommodate that cap hit.

"We're still working. We're talking with some teams. That's our priority, to trade him, if we can complete a trade that works for us, too," said Canadiens GM Ken Hughes. "Jeff is an important defenseman on our team. He isn't a player that we're looking to trade because of his play. It's about his family circumstances. If we're going to trade him, we need to get some flexibility under the salary cap. That's important. Secondly, we could also get a player or prospect that could help us be better in the future." Petry took a big step backwards in 2021-22, while contributing 27 points, 124 shots, 117 blocks and 140 hits in 68 games. 

According to TSN's Pierre LeBrun, a trade involving Petry is something that Montreal has been working on and he believes the Dallas Stars might be a fit if John Klingberg heads to the open market as a free agent. LeBrun added that five or six teams have spoken with the Canadiens with regard to Petry, including Detroit and Dallas. Petry is signed for the next three seasons with a $6.25 million cap hit and he can submit a 15-team no-trade list. 

Petry came up huge in this win, posting goals in both the second and third periods against Alexandar Georgiev. His second goal of the came with just 31 seconds remaining in regulation and worked to snap a 3-3 tie. Over the course of 67 games played this season, Petry has recorded six goals and 26 points. This was his first multi-goal effort of the campaign. Better late than never, we suppose.