Author: George Malik

Quite the tribute here:

#46.

Like father, like son. 🏒⚾️ pic.twitter.com/IsEaRWSVI0

— Detroit Red Wings (@DetroitRedWings) August 15, 2023

The Athletic’s Max Bultman filed a late-afternoon article discussing the ramifications of the Jeff Petry trade for the Red Wings’ blueline and their top defensive prospects:

[The trade] also comes with some interesting questions about potential fallout elsewhere on the blue line, which suddenly looks very crowded. After the projected top pair of Moritz Seider and Jake Walman, the Red Wings now may have to sit one of Petry, Gostisbehere, Ben Chiarot, Justin Holl and Olli Määttä, all of whom except Gostisbehere are under contract for at least the next two seasons, and all but Petry (whose cap hit is $2.34 million, after Montreal retained salary) will cost at least $3 million.

In many ways, that crowdedness can be a good thing — injuries are inevitable in the NHL, and in recent years, the Red Wings have had to resort to asking depth defenders to carry a real load. Last season, Detroit’s Nos. 6-8 defensemen (Lindstrom, Jordan Oesterle and Robert Hagg) combined for 126 games. Now, when all are healthy, the Red Wings would project to scratch a player who is better than all three of them — and that’s without knowing who, exactly, shapes up as the odd man out on a given night. There should be real competition.

Improving the blue line was the top priority for head coach Derek Lalonde when he arrived last season, and remains as such going forward, with Lalonde recently saying that even though Detroit improved defensively last season, it “still isn’t good enough.”

“I’ve been fortunate enough prior to coming here, being around some winning within this league, and it’s still about keeping it out of the net,” Lalonde said.

Clearly, Yzerman agrees, as the Red Wings now look much deeper (and more veteran) on defense. Petry had a 54 percent expected goals share last season in Pittsburgh, and while much of that was a result of what he brings offensively, he has a history of strong defensive impacts too.

And beyond that, finding more offense is still a major need for Detroit. Petry, for his part, has tallied 40 or more points in four of his last six seasons, in addition to being on pace to do so last season in the 61 games he played. That’s the good: the Red Wings got better, deeper, and more experienced, and did so without giving up much.

Bultman continues (paywall)

The Detroit Red Wings acquired defenseman Jeff Petry from the Montreal Canadiens for Gustav Lindstrom and a conditional 4th round draft pick. Here’s what the regular media folks have to say about the deal:

A. MLive:

MLive’s Ansar Khan weighs in as follows:

Montreal Canadiens GM Kent Hughes spoke with the media for nearly 20 minutes, in both English and French, regarding the fact that he basically acquired Jeff Petry to flip him (and a whole lot more) over the course of his conversation…

And if you don’t have 20 minutes to spare, TSN posted a 5:30 video in which Hughes very directly addresses the Hughes deal in English:

Okay, here’s what I’ve Tweeted regarding the Red Wings’ trade for Jeff Petry from Montreal:

I had a feeling that the Red Wings weren't done, and I still think that they aren't done.

The Wings needed a right-shot defenseman, and Jeff Petry for 2 years at $2.34 million is okay, especially for Lindstrom and a 4th.

They could still use a scoring winger, too. We'll see!

— George Malik (@georgemalik) August 15, 2023

Yes, Petry is 35 years old, but he’s still a very strong skater, and he can post 30-35 points on the right point. He’s coming in on a $2.34 million cap hit, and in terms of real-world salary, he’s going to cost the Wings $2.8125 million this season, and only $1.875 million next season.

That’s very reasonable for someone who’s essentially coming in to replace Filip Hronek until the Wings can bring in a younger right-side defenseman (or one of their lefties steps up and takes the spot).

I’m not thrilled that the Wings gave up Gustav Lindstrom, upper-body strength issues included, but Lindstrom and a conditional 4th round pick are very reasonable rates for someone with Petry’s track record.

Moreover, the Red Wings now have a depth chart on defense that goes seven defensemen deep–Seider, Walman, Maatta, Petry, Gostisbehere, Holl and Chiarot, not counting the youngsters like Edvinsson or Wallinder–and there are going to be injuries on defense, so you have to build your forward corps and defensive corps deeper than 12 + 6.

Overall, I mean, no, it’s not ideal to be adding another guy in his mid-30’s, who’s signed next year as well as this one, but Petry addresses a need, he’s a hometown guy, his skating is strong and he’s got some savvy, as well as a track record of scoring 35+ points…

And the Wings didn’t pay much for him. So this works.

Now we’ll see whether they bring in one more scoring winger.

Red Wings prospect Antti Tuomisto made a decision to bet on himself this past season, leaving the University of Denver for TPS Turku of the Finnish Liiga. He converted that pro season into an entry-level NHL deal with the Red Wings, as MLive’s Ansar Khan notes:

“I thought about it for a long time, for months, what’s the right decision for my future,” Tuomisto said. “I think I made a good choice.”

Four years after the Detroit Red Wings drafted him in the second round (35th overall), the 6-5, 205-pound right-shooting defenseman is poised to make his AHL debut with the Grand Rapids Griffins.

“Antti is a smart player, a cerebral player. He makes a good first pass,” Daniel Cleary, Red Wings assistant director of player development, said. “This is going to be a big test for him coming over for his first year of pro in North America. We got to be patient and see how he goes.”

Tuomisto and fellow Red Wings prospects Carter Mazur and Shai Buium were freshmen on the Pioneers’ NCAA title team. Tuomisto last season appeared in 60 games in his native Finland for TPS Turku of SM-liiga, picking up five goals and 15 assists.

“Get a bigger role maybe than I had in Denver and also play with older guys, a little bigger guys in Finland,” Tuomisto, 22, said. “There’s a lot of skating in Finland. Bigger sheet. Also, puck battles and stuff like that with bigger guys, it’s harder. That helped me a lot.”

Continued

Informative!

Per the Detroit Red Wings:

RED WINGS ACQUIRE JEFF PETRY FROM MONTREAL CANADIENS IN EXCHANGE FOR GUSTAV LINDSTROM AND A CONDITIONAL FOURTH-ROUND PICK IN 2025 NHL ENTRY DRAFT 

  … Michigan State University Product Has Recorded 353 Points in 864 NHL Games With Oilers, Canadiens and Penguins Since 2010-11 …

DETROIT – The Detroit Red Wings today acquired defenseman Jeff Petry from the Montreal Canadiens in exchange for defenseman Gustav Lindstrom and a conditional fourth-round pick in the 2025 NHL Entry Draft. Montreal will retain 50 percent of remaining obligations pertaining to Petry’s contract. Detroit will pay 37.5 percent of Petry’s remaining contract.

Petry, 35, spent the 2022-23 campaign with the Pittsburgh Penguins, recording 31 points (5-26-31), a plus-two rating and 24 penalty minutes in 61 games. The 6-foot-3, 209-pound defenseman joined the Penguins after playing the 2021-22 season with the Canadiens, notching 27 points (6-21-27) and 36 penalty minutes in 68 games. Petry helped the Canadiens reach the 2021 Stanley Cup Final, logging 42 points (12-30-42), a plus-six rating and 20 penalty minutes in 55 regular-season games, in addition to dishing out six assists in 20 postseason contests. Originally selected by the Edmonton Oilers in the second round (45th overall) of the 2006 NHL Entry Draft, Petry has compiled 353 points (92-261-353) and 349 penalty minutes in 864 games between the Oilers, Canadiens and Penguins since 2010-11, along with 13 points (5-8-13) and 18 penalty minutes in 48 playoff games. Petry also totaled 28 points (7-21-28) and 22 penalty minutes in 51 games with the American Hockey League’s Springfield Falcons and Oklahoma City Barons from 2009-12.

A native of Ann Arbor, Mich., Petry is the son of 13-year MLB veteran Dan Petry, who helped the Detroit Tigers win the 1984 World Series and posted a 119-93 record and a 3.84 earned run average in 306 appearances (274 starts) with the franchise from 1979-87 and 1990-91. Prior to turning professional, Petry spent three seasons at Michigan State University from 2007-10, serving as team captain during his junior year. In total, Petry collected 67 points (9-58-67) and 86 penalty minutes in 118 games with the Spartans, earning a spot on the CCHA Second All-Star Team in 2009-10 and CCHA All-Rookie Team honors in 2007-08. Before joining the Spartans, Petry spent two seasons with the Des Moines Buccaneers of the United States Hockey League from 2005-07, registering 60 points (19-41-60) and 139 penalty minutes in 103 games. He guided Des Moines to a Clark Cup championship in 2006 and was named USA Hockey Junior Player of the Year following the 2006-07 campaign. Petry also played three seasons of varsity hockey at St. Mary’s Preparatory in Orchard Lake, Mich., from 2002-05. On the international stage, Petry represented Team USA at three consecutive IIHF World Championships from 2012-14, earning a bronze medal at the 2013 tournament.

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

Red Wings analyst and alumnus Larry Murphy just won the “3ICE” league’s championship as the coach of “Team Murphy,” and he recently spoke with the NHL Network regarding his summertime coaching job, the Red Wings’ offseason moves, and more over the course of a 10-minute interview:

Grand Rapids Griffins forwards Dominik Shine and Tyler Spezia headed to a West Michigan Whitecaps game recently, and the Griffins “mic’ed them up”:

Shine & Spez mic'd up but make it baseball edition ⚾ @tylersp7 | #GoGRG pic.twitter.com/rkTF6P2tWr

— Grand Rapids Griffins (@griffinshockey) August 14, 2023