The deal: The Canadiens acquire defenceman Jeff Petry in exchange for a second-round pick and conditional fifth-round pick in 2015.
The money:
Petry: Signed through 2014/15, with a cap hit of $3.1M
What the Canadiens are thinking: Petry is a six-foot-three, right-shot blueliner who can play on Montreal’s second or third pair, possibly with young puck-mover Nathan Beaulieu or veteran Sergei Gonchar. The Habs now have a lot of depth on defence, which is something teams hoping to go deep in the playoffs covet. Montreal has two second-rounders in 2016, so surrendering these picks isn’t a huge deal.
What the Oilers are thinking: Edmonton is compiling as many draft picks as possible in the hopes of finding players outside the first round who can fill holes down the line.
Who wins this deal right now: Montreal improves its defence, but doesn’t give up a solid prospect for a rental. That’s a victory.
Who wins this deal later: A second-round pick in this deep 2015 draft is nothing to sneeze at and if the Oilers can turn the later pick into an NHL-calibre player, this winds up being a great move. Petry was gone as a free agent at season’s end, anyway.
Overall: This just makes sense from both sides. The Canadiens didn’t desperately need to add on the blueline given Alexei Emelin will return from injury well before the playoffs, not to mention the emergence of 24-year-old Greg Pateryn in recent weeks and the presence of serviceable odd-man-out Mike Weaver. Still, with the possible exception of Emelin, Petry is a clear upgrade on all those guys.