Petry to Detroit and value discussion

Team: 2022-23 Montreal Canadiens

Initial Creation Date: May 29, 2022

Published: May 29, 2022

Salary Cap Mode: Basic

Title is click-baity...my bad everyone.....trying to find out who doesn't look at the post and will just troll comment.....I know it annoys the DET fans on here and they don't want him.... and it makes sense. Realistically he doesn't fill a team need in DET, nor does he fit with their age group. So I hear ya DET fans, Petry is probably getting traded elsewhere or not at all.


But let's have an honest discussion here about Petry's value (not just with DET fans but with everyone lol).

Petry before this past season was a steady 40+pts offensive Dman for almost 5 years, with his best year being the shortened 2020-21 season where he had 42pts in just 55games (62pts pro rated). In his career with MTL, Petry twice finished with Norris votes (13th place in 2020-21 and 18th place in 2018-19) now this doesn't mean he was a Norris candidate like some fellow Habs fans on here claim, but it does indicate the he was ranked as one of the top 20 Dman in the league for some time, not too shaby.
So when we look at this past season where for the 1st half, and Habs fans should all be conceding here, Petry was terrible (borderline not even an NHL quality player). Was this a sign of him declining, or just a bump in the road? I think this question answers itself when you look at what transpired once Ducharme was fired. If this was truly Petry in decline, a coaching change wouldn't of changed anything or any at least any improvement would have been minimal. but what happened was night and day. Petry had 21pts in his last 28 games with Martin St-louis! Now does this mean any team inquiring on him should ignore that 40 game stretch where he sucked with only 6 pts? not at all! But they can't ignore his recent performances either!

Other significant factors are Petry's age and contract. He will be 35 by then end of this year and still has 3 years left on his deal at $6.25mil per season. This is not good no matter how you slice it. This contract is only justifiable if Petry can maintain he 40+pts production. When you think about it... a 40+pts right shooting Dman at $6.25mil is actually a bargain price....it's combining that with Petry's age that makes his contract a significant risk. Which affects his value significantly.

So if we are being fair and realistic. I think we've established that Petry is not a "cap dump" or "worthless". Far from it. BUT.....If MTL trade him and do not retain any salary or take a bad contract, the value coming back will be minimal (such as a low end 2nd rd pick at best or high end 3rd rd pick + a middle tier prospect).....BUT if MTL do retain salary or take a bad contract OR BOTH, the pendulum will shift and the return will be good (1st rd pick +).

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