General manager Kent Hughes had not hidden his game: his hands were tied as long as he had not settled the file of Jeff Petry.
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Hughes had promised he wouldn’t just give the 34-year-old defenseman away or shell out a draft pick to get out of his contract.
He kept his promise on Saturday, sending Petry and center Ryan Poehling to the Pittsburgh Penguins, getting his hands on Quebecer Mike Matheson and a fourth-round pick in 2023 in return.
The transaction raised eyebrows among some CH supporters because of the size of the deal for Matheson, who will receive an average annual salary of $4.875 million for the next four seasons.
“Petry was supposed to be traded to a team that aspires to top honors because of his age and his contract,” Hughes said via videoconference. It was difficult to achieve this without getting a contract in return.
The number 26 had asked to be traded to an American team at the end of the campaign for family reasons, after spending eight seasons in the blue-white-red uniform. Separated from his family, he had some of his toughest moments with the Habs, but he was one of the team’s most important cogs throughout his 508-game stint in Montreal.
“He is very grateful to be able to join an American market, noted the DG. We know it will make life easier for his family. Furthermore, [les Penguins] aim for the Stanley Cup.
Under this transaction and the contracting of Rem Pitlick, the Habs only have a little more than $1.2 million under the salary cap and must still agree with Kirby Dach, Cayden Primeau and Samuel Montembeault.
“We still have payroll issues,” Hughes said. We will continue to explore our possibilities to reduce our financial commitments. [Mais] we know that we will benefit from more flexibility when certain contracts come to an end.”
Poehling, another failure in the first round
Included in the deal as icing on the cake since the Pens needed depth in the center, Ryan Poehling has lost some of his luster since scoring a hat trick in his first game in the league. His 22 points in 85 NHL games are proof of that.
«[L’ajout de Poehling] provides the Penguins with security in the center, chained Hughes. We felt comfortable in the middle of the ice with the arrival of Kirby Dach and we had a lot of forwards who have one-way deals.
The 23-year-old American striker represents another draft failure of the previous management group: all of CH’s first-round picks between 2006 and 2018 no longer play in Montreal, without exception.