Jeff Petry’s name has started to appear in trade speculation for the Oilers. He is an RFA defenseman currently under club control but a year away from Unrestricted Free Agency.
This actually doesn’t come as a great shock for me, not because the Oilers are inept and cant figure out that keeping quality players is beneficial but because of his situation. The fact is that Jeff Petry is a quality youngish Defenseman who has experience facing the opposition's best. He can move the puck out of his own zone and is capable, though not always willing, to play a physical game too.
That’s valuable. It’s valuable to the Oilers and it’s valuable to the 29 other teams too. Petry is an NHL talent who can be signed for relatively cheap, especially by a new team. Considering the Oilers are able to take on Salary and others are desperate to shed some of their own, what might the extremely affordable and very useful Jeff Petry fetch on the market?
The various reports suggest the Oilers are not actively pushing to rid him from their roster, but they are putting his name out there in trade conversation. The club can afford to trade Jeff Petry and win, but they cant afford to trade Jeff Petry and lose.
There are two scenarios I see where the Oilers can walk away with a player greater than Petry:
1) Focus on the teams in Cap Jail. Boston, Philly, Chicago, etc. Target a more established, more expensive player and offer Petry as compensation.
2) Package Petry with the Oilers 2015 1st Round pick and swing for the fences.
Go after Byfuglien, get in on Letang, go Big Game hunting, but whatever you do don’t trade Petry and get something less capable of helping the team right now. Rebuild time is over. That 2015 1st Overall pick could be extremely valuable. There are a lot of teams that would want Edmonton's 2015 pick. History suggests it could be a high one.
So it isn't time to panic about the fact that Petry has become available. I'm glad it's his name and not Marincin's, but Jeff Petry is a player the Oilers cant just replace with Nurse or Klefbom and come out ahead this fall. If he goes there has to be something better coming back.
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