The Detroit Red Wings have bolstered their blue line with the acquisition of veteran defenseman Jeff Petry. On Tuesday, the Red Wings announced that they acquired Petry from the Montreal Canadiens in exchange for a conditional 2025 fourth-round pick and defenseman Gustav Lindstrom.
This is now the second time Petry has been traded this offseason. After spending the 2022-23 season with the Pittsburgh Penguins, Petry was traded to the Canadiens earlier this month, with Pittsburgh retaining 25% of his $6.25 million salary.
The Canadiens are now retaining 50% of Petry's remaining salary, which means the Red Wings will get a veteran blue line presence for just over $2.3 million for the next two seasons.
Petry, 35, is entering his 14th NHL season, and he has remained a solid puck-moving defenseman well into his career. Last season, Petry tallied five goals and 26 assists in 61 games with the Penguins. According to Natural Stat Trick, Pittsburgh controlled 53.9% of the expected goals with Petry on the ice at five-on-five.
Petry will slot into a Red Wings defensive group that already features budding superstar Moritz Seider, Justin Holl, Jake Walman, Shayne Gostisbehere, and Ben Chiarot. Detroit allowed 279 goals against last season which ranked 23rd in the league, but that number should improve with Petry in the fold.
Red Wings general manager Steve Yzerman has been busy trying to complete the team's rebuild this summer, and he made one of the biggest moves of the offseason when he traded for sharpshooting winger Alex DeBrincat in July.
Lindstrom, a second-round pick by the Red Wings in 2017, has yet to establish himself as a full-time NHL player. He should get more of a chance to do just that on a Canadiens team with a less crowded blue line.
