NHL Rumors: Pittsburgh Penguins – Jeff Petry, and the need to get creative

Jeff Petry may or may not be available

Dan Kingerski of Pittsburgh Hockey Now: One source said that Pittsburgh Penguins defenseman Jeff Petry’s name is “out there.”

It’s not known what teams might be interested, with the source adding that Penguins GM Ron Hextall likes to keep things confidential.

The 35-year-old Petry has two years left at $6.25 million and a 15-team no-trade clause.

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They have salary cap and third-line issues. If the Penguins were able to move Petry, it could give them some cap space to work with. Not many teams could handle Petry’s contract without sending salary back

Pierre LeBrun: Have the understanding that Penguins defenseman Jeff Petry is not in play at the moment. “Not going anywhere as far as I know.”

The Penguins would like to add but will need to get creative

Pierre LeBrun of The Athletic: Pittsburgh Penguins GM Ron Hextall said earlier this week that he’d like to add and improve their teams ahead of the March 3rd trade deadline.

“It depends on the fit, it depends on the price,” Hextall said. “I’m not willing to give up the world for rentals. But we’re looking at everything and looking at the prices, and we’ll see what makes sense for us.

“Obviously there’s cap constraints so we’ve got to be creative. Like a lot of teams.”

Ideally, they’d find a bottom-six depth forward that has some offense and is not a rental. The Penguins need help immediately but the prices could still come down.

“The problem with the market is that it can change in a hurry,” Hextall said. “All of a sudden, prices are high, and they turn low. Everybody asks what they think are fair prices and we all have our different opinions, obviously.”

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Tristan Jarry has returned to the lineup so that should help, but they’ve been inconsistent this season.

Lucky for them, after talking with front offices over the past month, there seem to be more forwards available for trade than there are buyers.