Montreal deal: Jeff and Julie Petry will come to Montreal if they have to

Jeff Petry is (for the time being) a member of the Habs. I say “for the time being” because everyone suspects that the defenseman is on the market and could leave at any moment.

My guess is that Kent Hughes is on the phone right now, chatting with some of the teams listed in Marc-Olivier Beaudoin’s tweet.

Of course, right now is probably not an easy time for him in terms of his family. After all, living with uncertainty like this isn’t exactly easy – especially with four young boys and school starting soon. I can understand that.

But in Petry’s case, I seem to think he’s the architect of his own misfortune. Why is that?

• He (knowingly) signed a lucrative contract with the Montreal Canadiens in the midst of a pandemic.
• He asked for a deal and within a few months, he got what he wanted – with a good club, no less.
• He had a bad season, putting himself at risk with the new field hockey boss.
• He didn’t put Montreal on his no-trade list – or forgot to update it.

Under these conditions, I’m thinking that the player, who is one of the reasons why the Penguins have cleaned house in recent months, isn’t as clean as snow.

If he didn’t want to come back to Montreal, he could have made it happen. It didn’t. Did he think the CH would never go after him again anyway?

Obviously, there’s a world where Petry gets traded quickly, but there’s a world where that’s not the case. If that happens, I don’t necessarily expect Petry to apologize to the city of Montreal for his comments about Pittsburgh’s “standards”.

Anyway, if it comes to that, he’ll be grilled by journalists and his wife will be questioned on social networks.

But if Kent Hughes doesn’t manage to trade the player (which I doubt, but still) by training camp, he won’t have much choice but to show up in town – unless he wants to leave millions of dollars on the table.

And according to what Eric Engels reported yesterday on Tony Marinaro’s Sick Podcast, the player and his wife are comfortable with the idea of coming back if that’s what happens. After all, they know the field hockey business.

In reality, it was (mainly) the pandemic that drove the family out of town. It’s not exactly breaking news, we all agree.

If the family has to come back to town, it’s clearly going to be a bit awkward at first, but the Petrys will do it. I hope they do it with a good attitude, despite the comments that await them.

It’s important to remember, though, that the defenseman has been important to the Habs for years. If he stays (again, I doubt it) in town for more than three days in August, he’ll have to make sure the fans remember that.

In a row

– To be continued.

– Indeed.

– Still.

Very interesting bonuses💰💰https://t.co/R9AwUceE05

– TVA Sports (@TVASports) August 8, 2023

– It was expected, as a transaction.

General manager Mike Grier defends his decision 🏒 https://t.co/W2Ee09Rq9j

– TVA Sports (@TVASports) August 8, 2023