Jeff Petry: Kent Hughes learned at the last minute that the CH was not on his list

Early this afternoon, the Habs announced what we all pretty much expected: Jeff Petry was traded back after ten days in town. Clearly, the defenseman didn’t want to play in Montreal, and that could become a problem.

In the end, he was sent to his native Michigan in return for Gustav Lindström and a conditional fourth-round pick in 2025, with 50% of his salary withheld for the next two years.

Clearly, we suspected the plan was to send him elsewhere as quickly as possible, and for a second time in just over a year, Kent Hughes has accommodated his defender by sending him to a destination ideal for him.

That said, if the Tricolore GM’s words are anything to go by, the deal that brought Petry back to town happened pretty quickly. In fact, according to Hughes, he called Kyle Dubas on Saturday morning to see how things were going, and it was only then that he learned that the CH was not on the defender’s 15-team roster.

This led to a marathon of negotiations on Saturday (everything had to be settled by Sunday morning for Dubas, who would otherwise have had to use a contract buyout), and the two men negotiated until late Saturday evening.

The next morning, the deal was announced.

However, the plan was never to keep Petry in town. On Sunday morning, Hughes called #26 to explain that he intended to trade him quickly so as not to leave him in the lurch for too long.

Ideally, he would have liked to be able to close a deal to send Petry elsewhere even before the announcement of his return to Montreal, but the Penguins were in a hurry to complete the deal due to their contract buyout window ending on Sunday.

In the end, then, we had a feeling that the Habs were in the mix a few days before the deal, but it was obviously 24 hours before the announcement that Hughes learned that Petry didn’t have the CH on his list.

Hats off to Hughes and Dubas for sorting it all out in such a short space of time, really.

Extension

– Asked about Logan Mailloux’s interview with Gary Bettman, Hughes said there had been no final decision yet.

– In the eyes of the CH’s professional scouts. Lindström is currently playing at 70% of his potential. The club believes it can take him to the next level.

– Hughes confirmed that Rem Pitlick had requested a trade and that Mike Hoffman left because the club didn’t see a future for him in the city.