Surprising revelation about Jeff Petry's value on the trade market

It's safe to say that Kent Hughes passed his first test at the trade deadline with flying colors. While he was able to get the most out of defensemen Ben Chiarot and Brett Kulak, it would likely have been a different story if Hughes had wanted the same value in return for Jeff Petry.

As Raphael Simard of Danslescoulisses.com reports, the reality is that Petry's contract made him virtually untradeable at the trade deadline.


With a salary of $6.25 million per season through 2024-2025, it's understandable that he was hard to move as La Presse reporter Mathias Brunet mentioned. He mentions that if Petry had been an uncompensated free agent at the end of the season, as Chiarot and Kulak were, Kent Hughes would have been able to potentially get a first or second round pick at a minimum.


On the other hand, we learn that due to his hefty contract, Petry had a negative value on the market instead... Ouch! Kent Hughes would have had to pay to trade him, which is definitely not ideal.

Probably a Stanley Cup contender would have been willing to pay a good price to acquire a defenseman of Petry's caliber, even if he's having a sub-par season, if his contract expired at the end of the year. That says a lot about the impact and importance of the salary cap.

But the story could be very different once the season is over and the plan of the new Habs staff is to get the best deal possible for #26.

In the meantime, Habs fans will have to hope that he gives his all between now and the end of the season so that the team gets the best possible value for his services.