“Agreed to terms” – Under unfavorable circumstances Canadiens GM Kent Hughes lands amenable trade for Jeff Petry


“Agreed to terms” – Under unfavorable circumstances Canadiens GM Kent Hughes lands amenable trade for Jeff Petry

Kent Hughes trade Jeff Petry to Penguins

Though the terms weren’t aligned, Canadiens general manager Kent Hughes accommodates defenceman Jeff Petry’s request for a trade to a U.S based team on Saturday. The Montreal Canadiens traded Jeff Petry and forward Ryan Poehling to Pittsburg Penguins on Saturday in exchange for defenceman Mike Matheson and a fourth-round pick in 2023. 

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The deal wasn’t easy to make but a decision had to be passed before the season ended. This deal was far for the perfect one that Hughes expected for his team. On several occasions, Hughes mentioned how his main objective wasn’t achieved; which was to gain long-term cap flexibility for the Canadiens. Under unfavorable circumstances, he at least got to sign Rem Pitlick which posed as a steal of a deal, which was a must. 

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Kent Hughes traded Jeff Petry to Pittsburg Penguins

Jeff Petry traded to Pittsburg Penguins
Jeff Petry traded to Pittsburg Penguins

Defenceman Mike Matheson has a cap hit of $4.875 million for the next four seasons, on the other hand, Jeff Petry is set to make $6.25 million for each of the next three seasons. In the upcoming season, Ryan Poehling is expected to make $750,000 which will probably top a little over $2 million per season if he continues to progress. This trade did blow the Canadiens a bit. Hughes signed Rem Pitlick to a $1.1 million average salary in a 2-year deal.

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Petry played 8 seasons with the Canadiens and recorded 8 goals and 21 assists in 68 games during the 2021-22 season. Whereas Poehling scored 17 points with a minus 21 rating in 57 appearances last season. As stated on sportsnet.ca, in this trade return, the Canadiens got Matheson who recorded a career-high of 31 points in 2021-22, and additional capital for next year’s draft.

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Petry authored his worst 8 seasons as a Canadien and did so in the first year of his 4-year $25 million contract. After completion of the Canadiens and Penguins trade Hughes mentioned that though a high risk was involved it was a better deal for Petry considering his performance. And Hughes did get more than just money to add Pitlick to the team.


Hughes said, “In any trade that we were going to contemplate with Pittsburgh or any other team that involved Jeff Petry, one of the elements that either had to come in the trade or we either had to be able to thereafter acquire was a defenceman. We weren’t prepared to go into next season with (only) two defencemen who had played full-time or (had) extensive NHL experience, so we wanted to do that.”

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