Petry is signed for the next three seasons at a salary cap hit of $6.25 million. Montreal did not retain any of his salary in the trade. The 12-year veteran has appeared in 803 NHL games between the Canadiens and Edmonton Oilers. Petry was traded to Montreal in 2015 and had a mostly successful tenure with the club. It was most recently that the 34-year-old played under former coach Dominique Ducharme, and Petry requested a trade from Montreal last November. Ducharme was fired mid-season and while Petry’s play improved under new coach Martin St. Louis, the veteran still hopes to relocate for family reasons. “When you trade for good players, you’re going to have to give up good players. Mike’s a good player. We just feel like Jeff, at this point, is a little bit better for us,” Penguins general manager Ron Hextall said at a news conference. via video. “He can play in all situations, he can log big minutes.” 2 Related The Canadiens were also entering a rebuilding phase that would focus on their young core. Petry’s contract made it difficult for general manager Kent Hughes to find a willing trade partner, especially since Hughes didn’t want to just dump Petry anywhere or keep his cap on the books. No deal was completed before the March deadline, and Petrie finished the season in Montreal with six goals and 27 points in 68 games. Hughes said last week that moving Petry was a “priority,” but reiterated that it had to be the right deal for Montreal. Completing the trade now gives the Canadiens much-coveted cap flexibility with about $2.4 million in cap space for next season. Poehling is a former first-round pick (25th overall) by Montreal in 2017. The 23-year-old has been a consistent forward in 85 NHL games with 13 goals and 22 points. He is signed until the end of next season. The Penguins have been looking for a right-shooting defenseman, and trading Petry for the left-handed Matheson helps them do just that. However, Pittsburgh has an abundance of defensemen in the NHL as it is, and will now be paying Petry nearly $2 million a season more than Matheson was. This could be one of multiple moves by the Penguins to solve their logjam. Earlier Saturday, Pittsburgh dealt defenseman John Marino, 25, to the New Jersey Devils for defenseman Ty Smith, 22, and a third-round pick in next year’s draft. Matheson should be a strong addition for Montreal. Coming off a career season on Pittsburgh’s second pair (11 goals and 31 points in 74 games), he likes to play in transition but doesn’t sacrifice in his own zone. The 28-year-old isn’t looking to become a top-pairing player, but he should be a consistent contributor.
