The Detroit Red Wings and Montreal Canadiens made a decent-sized trade on Tuesday that could help out both sides in the end.
The Wings are getting defenseman Jeff Petry from the Habs in exchange for Gustav Lindstrom and a conditional 2025 first-round pick.
Petry started his career with the Edmonton Oilers and he played there for parts of five years. He then played part of eight years with Montreal before playing last season with the Pittsburgh Penguins.
The Detroit Red Wings and Montreal Canadiens made a trade on Tuesday.
UPDATE: The #RedWings today acquired defenseman Jeff Petry from the Montreal Canadiens in exchange for Gustav Lindstrom and a conditional 4th round pick in 2025. pic.twitter.com/S7VfVJpa8f
— Detroit Red Wings (@DetroitRedWings) August 15, 2023
The Penguins sent Petry back to the Canadiens a couple of weeks ago in the three-team trade that sent Erik Karlsson from the San Jose Sharks to Pittsburgh.
Now, he is headed to the Detroit Red Wings who are doing everything they can to improve their chances of being a playoff team this year.
As a part of the deal, the Canadiens are going to retain some of the money owed on the contract of Petry. That is certainly helpful for Detroit who still has some other moves they need to make.
He will join a core on defense that is hoping to back the forwards up as they try to do their own thing with the skill that they have.
It has been a long time since we’ve seen the Red Wings in the playoffs. Before this current drought, they made it for an NHL record 25 straight years so it was clear that rebuilding might be tough. Now, it might be time for them to start winning again. We’ll see.
As for the Canadiens, they are in the middle of a little rebuild themselves. They might, however, be slightly behind Detroit in terms of making the playoffs.
Gustav Lindstrom is a solid young defenseman that the Habs might be able to mold into an even better player. Detroit needs more veteran presence so making this swap should really turn out to be a positive.
This isn’t a trade that is putting a team over the edge or anything like that but a swap of two defensemen is significant in the NHL. It also sends a message that the Red Wings are rebuilding while the Habs continue to add future assets.