“Have to give up good players when trading good players” – Jeff Petry, Ryan Poehling traded to Penguins by Canadiens for Mike Matheson

“Have to give up good players when trading good players” – Jeff Petry, Ryan Poehling traded to Penguins by Canadiens for Mike Matheson

Jeff Petry and Ryan Poehling

The American duo of defenceman Jeff Petry and forward Ryan Poehling was traded to the Pittsburgh Penguins by the Montreal Canadiens on Saturday for Canada’s ice hockey player Mike Matheson and a fourth-round pick in the 2023 NHL Draft.

The 34-year-old Petry had 27 points (six goals, 21 assists) in 68 games last season. He still has three years remaining on a four-year, $25 million contract (average annual value of $6.25 million) he signed with the Canadiens on September 25, 2020. 

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“When you’re trading for good players, you’re going to have to give up good players,” Penguins general manager Ron Hextall said, as quoted by NHL.com. “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.”

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“Had to acquire a defenceman in any trade involving Petry”

Jeff Petry
Jeff Petry

Selected by the Edmonton Oilers in the second round (No. 45) of the 2006 NHL Draft, the Michigan native Petry has 322 points (87 goals, 235 assists) in 803 regular-season games and has 13 points (five goals, eight assists) in 48 Stanley Cup Playoff games for the Oilers and Canadiens. Notably, the Penguins secured the services of Petry hours after trading defenseman John Marino to the New Jersey Devils for defenseman Ty Smith. 

“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. 

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