Pat Hickey: The Canadiens didn’t need Jeff Petry
The three-team trade was all about getting winger Mike Hoffman’s contract off the books and opening a spot for a younger player. The Canadiens have plenty of defencemen.
Jeff Petry falls backwards on the ice while handling the puck
Jeff Petry loses his balance during overtime of a National Hockey League game against the Edmonton Oilers in Montreal Monday May 10, 2021. PHOTO BY JOHN MAHONEY /Montreal Gazette files
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The Canadiens’ defence might have been better in the short term if the team had hung on to Jeff Petry.
And, if they waited to trade him at the deadline, they might have received a better return than journeyman defenceman Gustav Lindstrom and a late fourth-round draft choice.
But the renovation firm of Gorton and Hughes never had any plans for Petry 2.0. The three-team trade that brought Petry back from the Pittsburgh Penguins was all about getting winger Mike Hoffman’s contract off the books and it was less about saving money than clearing a spot for a younger player. In fact, by retaining a portion of Petry’s salary over the next two seasons, they will spend nearly $200,000 more than they saved on Hoffman’s $4.5 million salary.
Any temptation to retain Petry for short-term gain — the defence would have benefitted from the presence of a top-four defenceman with an offensive touch on the right side — was easy to resist because the Canadiens have nine defencemen with NHL experience and a pipeline that includes 2023 first-round draft pick David Reinbacher, Logan Mailloux, Swede Adam Engstrom and Lane Hutson.
Moving Hoffman gives young players like Rafaël Harvey-Pinard and Jesse Ylonen a better chance to play regularly, but the most interesting battles in what shapes up as a highly competitive training camp will be on the blue line.
Veterans Mike Matheson and David Savard are guaranteed spots in the top four and they should be joined by Kaiden Guhle who, when he has healthy, was the team’s best defenceman as a rookie.
Jordan Harris, Justin Barron, Johnathan Kovacevic, Chris Wideman, Arber Xhekaj, Lindstrom, Reinbacher and Mailloux will be fighting for three or four spots.
As for Petry, General Manager Kent Hughes kept his promise to find a a soft landing spot for the veteran and he’s headed home to Detroit.
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It’s sad that Petry’s tenure in Montreal ended in controversy. He was once the poster boy for an unrestricted free agent embracing life in Montreal., But the COVID-19 restrictions made life difficult for Julie Petry who was pregnant with the couple’s fourth child when the borders were shut. Their parents were unable to travel here to help and she eventually moved back to Detroit with the kids.
Returning to Detroit should make life better for all concerned and Montrealers should wish Poetry the best — except, of course, on those occasions when the Red Wings meet the Canadiens.
Canada faces uphill climb in tennis
Canada made history last year when it won the Davis Cup, a men’s team event emblematic of global supremacy.
Defending that title will be difficult if not impossible.
Canada must first survive a qualifying round Sept. 12-17 in Bologna. It will play in a round robin against host Italy, Sweden and Chile with the top two finishers advancing to the eight-team knockout stage in November. Canada and Italy should move forward but all bets are off because Canada will be missing its top two singles players, Montrealer Félix Auger-Aliassime and
Auger-Aliassime wasn’t on the list of players announced by Tennis Canada earlier this week because he’s committed to help Team World defend its Laver Cup title, Sept. 22-24 in Vancouver. Shapovalov was nominated but he withdrew from the upcoming U.S. Open with a knee injury and it’s unlikely he’ll be fit for Bologna.
That leaves 21-year-old Montrealer Gabriel Diallo as Canada’s top-ranked player at No. 132. He’s joined by Alexis Galarneau of Laval and doubles specialist Vasek Pospisil.
The one hope is Auger-Aliassime changes his mind. That’s what happened last year after he was bounced in the second round of the U.S. Open. He beat No. 1 Carlos Alcaraz to lead Canada over Spain in the Davis Cup qualifying round and then beat Novak Djokovic to clinch the Laver Cup.
But even Auger-Aliassime may not be the answer. After finishing 2022 as one of the hottest players on the tour, he has struggled with injuries and flagging confidence this year. He has a 3-9 record since he last won more than one match in a tournament at Indian Wells in March.