We finally know why Kent Hughes didn't get a big return for Jeff Petry

The Montreal Canadiens settled an important matter yesterday by announcing the trade of Jeff Petry in exchange for a 4th-round draft pick and 24-year-old defenseman Gustav Lindstrom.

In this trade, the Canadiens are also retaining 50% of the 35-year-old veteran's salary, which is in effect until next year. This means that the team's salary cap is impacted by $2.3 million for the next two seasons.

However, due to the salary retention, many fans were surprised by the relatively insignificant return for a defenseman like Petry, who scored 31 points in 61 games last year in a challenging season, especially considering his modest salary of around $2.3 million.

In relation to the fact that this wasn't the optimal return for the defenseman, Kent Hughes revealed the reason behind the fans' disappointment.


Essentially, since the trade that brought him to Montreal unfolded within a few hours, he couldn't properly shop him around to quickly secure another deal.

He added that the ideal scenario would have been to move him earlier, but the fact that the agreement between Pittsburgh and San Jose had to be concluded on Sunday limited the negotiating window for the American defenseman.

The Canadiens' GM admitted that he could have maximized the return by being more patient after the initial trade, but considering Petry has four young children, Hughes gave him his word to resolve the situation as quickly as possible for the sake of his family.


So, it's understood that in such a context, he certainly didn't have the upper hand in discussions with other teams. In fact, it's even possible that Detroit was the only team interested in his services from the list of teams Petry agreed to be traded to.

The Canadiens' General Manager had to make a swift move, which likely hindered negotiations for his team. At least, in this trade, the Petry family is a significant winner since they will be returning to Jeff's hometown.