Penguins acquire Jeff Petry, Ryan Poehling from Canadiens

The Pittsburgh Penguins have acquired defenseman Jeff Petry and forward Ryan Poehling from the Montreal Canadiens in exchange for defenseman Mike Matheson and a 2023 fourth-round pick, the teams announced Saturday.

Petry has spent the past eight seasons with Montreal, posting six goals and 21 assists in 68 games last year. The 34-year-old is signed through the end of the 2024-25 season and carries an average annual value of $6.25 million.

Drafted No. 25 by the Canadiens in 2017, Poehling has registered 13 goals and nine assists in 85 career NHL games.

Matheson, taken by the Florida Panthers with the No. 23 pick in the 2012 NHL Draft, had a career-high 31 points in 74 games for the Penguins during his 2021-22 campaign.

Earlier Saturday afternoon, Pittsburgh dealt defenseman John Marino to the Devils in exchange for defenseman Ty Smith and a 2023 third-round pick.

(Photo of Jeff Petry: Eric Bolte / USA Today)

GO DEEPER

Yohe: Unfolding Ron Hextall's plan, reshaped Penguins

GO DEEPER

Canadiens double down on their developmental model by trading for Mike Matheson

GO DEEPER

NHL trade grades: Penguins pick up Petry and Poehling in deal with Canadiens

What are the Penguins up to swapping defensemen after moving on from John Marino?

Rob Rossi, Penguins senior writer: Well, they're certainly making an eventful Saturday out of things. If the Marino deal felt like setting up something bigger, this trade feels like a sort of old fashioned hockey deal.

The Penguins have liked Petry for a while, and despite his age and contract (actually, those make him seem like a fit for Pittsburgh) he should become a second-pairing anchor on the back end. Then again, so seemingly would have been Matheson.

So this is probably the case of the Penguins simply liking Perry's game better than Matheson’s for what they want to be — tougher to play against. Poehling feels like a throw-in.

And speaking of feels, this deal feels like just another move that will be part of a bigger picture that hasn't emerged yet. The Penguins still have too many defensemen on one-way contracts, and they're still at least a couple forwards shy of what they'd like to have coming into camp.

Advertisement

Why did the Canadiens make this move?

Arpon Basu, Canadiens senior columnist: Canadiens GM Kent Hughes made it clear he would not trade Jeff Petry unless his team came out of it improved.

Mike Matheson was one of his clients before Hughes took the job with the Canadiens, so he knows him well and is banking on the fact that adding Matheson to his blue line group makes it better. He is 28, so younger than Petry, and fills a hole left on the left side by trading Alexander Romanov to the New York Islanders at the draft. It is a swing on a player he knows well, but the result is the Canadiens gained some financial flexibility while bringing in a player they believe in.

ncG1vNJzZmismJqutbTLnquim16YvK57km1sa29kZ3xzfJFrZmlvX2aDcLzEp56uoZ6oeqKv0K6gq51dn7KnsoypnK2qqWK%2Fuq3NZqeonZihtq%2BzjJ%2BpqKVdmK6vrcOinKerXw%3D%3D