Red Wings acquire Jeff Petry from Canadiens for player, pick

The Detroit Red Wings have acquired Jeff Petry from the Montreal Canadiens in exchange for defenseman Gustav Lindstrom and a conditional fourth-round pick in 2025. 

Detroit owns both its own and Boston’s fourth-round picks, and the lower of the two will be sent to Montreal. This marks the second time in a week that Petry has been dealt. First, he was sent from the Pittsburgh Penguins to Montreal as part of the Erik Karlsson deal, now he’s going from Montreal to Detroit.

The Canadiens retain 50% of Petry’s current cap hit, after the Penguins already retained 25% of his original salary. The Red Wings will be on the hook for $2,343,750 for the next two years. Petry played the 2022-23 season with the Penguins, scoring five goals and 31 points in 61 games. He ranked second on the team in points by a defenseman, behind only Kris Letang.

Petry was originally selected in the second-round of the 2006 NHL Draft by the Edmonton Oilers. He would spend the first five seasons of his career there, although he never reached his potential in Edmonton. In 2015, he was dealt to the Canadiens for a couple of draft picks and really began to find his stride. Petry scored 70 goals and 248 points in 508 games with Montreal. He established his role as a capable two-way defender who can reliably score 40 points every season.

The main piece of the Petry return is Lindstrom, a defense-first defenseman. Lindstrom played the last two seasons in Detroit full-time, albeit missing more than half of the 2022-23 season with an injury. Nobody would confuse Lindstrom for an offensive defenseman, as he’s scored exactly two goals in his last 206 professional games between the NHL, AHL and Sweden. Nevertheless, he earned a role on the bottom-pairing in Detroit and will look to increase his role on the Canadiens this year.