Montreal Canadiens Still Have Value In Jeff Petry?
Marco D’Amico of Montreal Hockey NOW: The Montreal Canadiens, despite the Ryan McDonagh trade, feel they have value with Jeff Petry. Honestly, Montreal may not be wrong. Though the players are similar, the difference is that Petry had far more flexibility. McDonagh possessed a full no-trade clause which further diminished value.
“I guess you can draw some similarities on what Montreal may get for Jeff Petry, but I don’t think it’ll be very hard to move Petry,” said Dreger when comparing the situations of Petry and McDonagh on the trade market. “Habs fans have seen the good, the bad, and sometimes the ugly in Jeff Petry’s game, but that’s not how he’s viewed, for the most part, outside of Montreal. Veteran, seasoned defencemen are always a commodity.”
Kent Hughes continues to work the phones in hopes that a trade can be struck for Petry. It may not be as hard as this appears.
Minnesota Wild Musings: So, A Goaltender?
Michael Russo of The Athletic: The Minnesota Wild traded Kevin Fiala to the Los Angeles Kings and received a solid return. That included Brett Faber who could be a breakout in his own right. Anyway, Bill Guerin still deals with limited flexibility as he tries to improve his goaltending.
Options are very limited again with cap space not being that high ($7.3 million approximately). Also, Matt Boldy is eligible for an extension this summer which would further erode the cap situation.
Now, what does Guerin do for goaltending? Cam Talbot and Marc-Andre Fleury did not work late last season and in the playoffs. Was that all their fault? No. The team defense and penalty kill completely tanked (dead last since January 1st).
With Fleury likely gone, Guerin will have to find a goaltender that can challenge Talbot. Who will that be? Time will tell but the general manager will have to do his homework.