Habs Do Right, Deal Former Penguin Petry to Red Wings

Aside from the odd transaction here and there and an occasional flareup (and cool down) of the Tomáš Tatar-to-our-Penguins rumors, there really hasn’t been much to write about lately.

However, a trade went down yesterday that just has to warm your heart. The Canadiens sent recently acquired defenseman Jeff Petry to Detroit for defenseman Gustav Lindstrom and a conditional fourth-round pick in the 2025 NHL Draft. Some salary retention was involved.

As a refresher, Petry’s trade from Montreal to the Pens last summer was facilitated in part by his desire to be closer to his family, who just happen to reside in suburban Detroit. Of course, his recent trade back to the Canadiens put the veteran blueliner back to square one.

That’s when Habs GM Kent Hughes stepped up big time…with an assist from Red Wings boss Steve Yzerman.

“I’m a believer in general, whether it be players or people, that you try to do the right thing,” Hughes said. “Certainly, in this case, I called Jeff. I said, ‘Listen, I know you didn’t go to bed expecting to hear from me this morning. I was probably one of the last people you expected to [hear from].’ They were, as a family uptight. They have four young boys, and they were about to start school in two weeks, so I gave him my word. I said, ‘Listen, we saw an opportunity here to facilitate the trade between Pittsburgh and San Jose and to help ourselves, but we’re mindful that you’ve got a family and your own career and Montreal is probably not the place you’re expecting to play.’ I promised him that we’d 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.”

How wonderfully refreshing.

For the record, Petry didn’t play poorly for the black and gold last season as some seem to think. On the contrary, his five goals and 31 points (in 61 games) would’ve translated roughly into seven goals and 42 points over a full 82-game slate. Pretty close to his recent norms. The veteran defender proved to be a workhorse as advertised, logging an ATOI of 22:21…second on the team behind only Kris Letang.

Jeff also provided a needed physical element to the back line, dishing out 190 hits, tops among Pens defensemen and third on the team behind fellow departees Jason Zucker and Josh Archibald. He was one of only seven regulars to register a positive plus/minus (plus-2).

As for his overall impact? We were 32-21-8 with Jeff in the lineup, 8-10-3 without him. By comparison, we were 31-26-7 with Letang, 9-5-4 without him.

In other words, the Ann Arbor native did pretty much all that could be reasonably asked or expected of him. Unfortunately, his contract ($6.25 million for two more seasons) and age (35), not to mention Erik Karlsson’s availability and Kyle Dubas’ desire to nab the Norris Trophy winner, mitigated against Jeff remaining in the ‘burgh.

I, for one, am delighted he’s going home.

Speaking of Rumors…

There was a doozy floating around last week. One that claimed Dubas was in the process of negotiating a one-year deal to bring franchise icon Jaromir Jágr back to the Steel City.

When I saw the term I figured something was fishy, although Mr. Hockey, the late great Gordie Howe, played 80 games (and tallied 41 points!) for the Hartford Whalers at age 51, which just happens to match No. 68’s current age.

I’ve suggested this before, but I’d love to see the Pens bring Jágr back for one game. Can you imagine the excitement his return would generate among Penguins Nation? Ticket sales would go through the roof.

Plug Jags into the lineup and let him work the right half-wall on the power play for a shift or two.

The place would go bonkers.

Heck, it wouldn’t shock me to see him pick up an assist. Tell me that wouldn’t provide a fitting final exclamation point to a brilliant career.

A Tragic Footnote

Maple Leafs prospect Rodion Amirov passed away from a brain tumor on Monday. He was only 21 years old. Shades of former Penguin Michel Briere.

The 15^th overall pick in the 2020 Entry Draft, Amirov was diagnosed with a brain tumor in February 2022. The youngster’s tragic and untimely death struck a particularly emotional chord with Dubas, the man who drafted him.

“Personally, I am so sad for the loss of such a wonderful young man with so much potential,” said the Pens GM. “His unabashed positivity — even when faced with an awful diagnosis — will stay with me forever. Rodion was such an example of courage and I am certain that his spirit has touched and will live on in everyone lucky enough to have known him.”