When Jeff Petry was part of the blockbuster Erik Karlsson trade earlier this month, it was for purely financial reasons. He was sent back to the Canadiens, for whom he played several seasons before a welcomed move out of Montreal last summer.
At the time, general manager Kent Hughes gave Petry and family his word he’d find another destination for the veteran defenseman. He did so Tuesday, trading Petry to his hometown Detroit Red Wings for 24-year-old defenseman Gustav Lindstrom and a conditional 2025 fourth-round pick.
Petry, 35, is a native of Ann Arbor, Michigan, whose father Dan pitched 13 years in the majors and helped the Detroit Tigers win the 1984 World Series. He has four young boys of his own now, and Hughes was conscious of trying to get something done before the new schoolyear started.
“I promised them that we would work expeditiously to get him moved and that we wouldn’t drag this out trying to maximize every last piece of value in the trade,” Hughes said on a video call with reporters. “It probably took a little longer than we anticipated. But I spoke with Jeff again, and he was thankful.”
Acquiring Petry is the latest move in a busy offseason of additions for the Red Wings. And it came at a bargain price, getting Petry at less than half his salary: just over $2.3 million for each of the next two seasons.
Montreal retained 50% of Petry’s remaining salary. The Pittsburgh Penguins are taking care of just over $1.5 million after sending Petry to the Canadiens in the NHL’s biggest deal of the summer that landed them Karlsson, a three-time Norris Trophy winner.
But Petry did not figure into the rebuilding Canadiens’ plans this time around.
He joins a remade blue line for Detroit, which also added Justin Holl and Shayne Gostisbehere in free agency. Eager to get the Red Wings back in contention and end a seven-year playoff drought, general manager Steve Yzerman also traded for scoring winger Alex DeBrincat and signed forwards Daniel Sprong and J.T. Compher, among other changes.
Lindstrom had eight points and averaged just over 14 minutes of ice time in 36 games with Detroit last season. The condition of the 2025 draft pick is the later of Detroit’s or Boston’s - one of the selections the Red Wings got from Boston for Tyler Bertuzzi at the trade deadline.
“Our pro (scouts like him),” Hughes said of Lindstrom. “They feel like he’s a really smart, puck-moving defenseman (who) still has a lot of room to grow in his game.”
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