Canadiens may be looking to flip newly-acquired defenseman

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Mike Armenti
August 6, 2023 (3:43 PM)

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The Erik Karlsson saga has officially reached its conclusion after the 33-year-old was traded to the Pittsburgh Penguins earlier today. In order to get the trade done, the Penguins and Sharks needed the help of a third team to make the money work. Enter the Montreal Canadiens, who acquired several assets including a familiar face in former Habs defensemen in Jeff Petry.

Petry will have 25% of his salary paid by the Penguins for the next two seasons, and the Canadiens also added goaltender Casey DeSmith, forward prospect Nathan Legare and a 2025 second-round pick, while Kent Hughes sent Mike Hoffman and Rem Pitlick out in the deal.

Petry, who spent parts of eight seasons with Montreal, has made a lot of Canadiens fans happy, but perhaps the fanbase should pump the breaks a bit with their excitement. According to Sportsnet's Eric Engels, there's a chance that the Canadiens may move Jeff Petry before the start of the 2023-24.

Engels went on to say that the Canadiens have open retention spots, which means they can eat upwards of 50% of Petry's salary and can increase the return in a trade. For a rebuilding team like the Habs, this makes a lot of sense.

The 35-year-old appeared in 508 games for the Habs between the 2014-15 and 2021-22 seasons, registering 248 points (70 goals, 178 assists), 186 penalty minutes and was a minus-56 over that span.