Petry traded to Penguins by Canadiens for Matheson

Jeff Petry and Ryan Poehling were traded to the Pittsburgh Penguins by the Montreal Canadiens on Saturday for Mike Matheson and a fourth-round pick in the 2023 NHL Draft.

Petry, a 34-year-old defenseman, had 27 points (six goals, 21 assists) in 68 games last season. He has three years remaining on a four-year, $25 million contract ($6.25 million average annual value) he signed with the Canadiens on Sept. 25, 2020.
"To be honest, I didn't really know where I was going to end up," Petry said Sunday. "... But when my agent mentioned Pittsburgh* ]**
The trade brings Petry closer to the family home in Michigan, where his wife, Julie, and four sons live. He requested a trade from Montreal last season.
"It's nice. Pittsburgh is a little over four-hour drive from my house in Michigan," Petry said Sunday. " So that's nice, being able to just hop in the car, or for my wife, hop in the car on Friday night and be home at a reasonable hour. That's nice. The ability to go back and forth. The past couple years with COVID hasn't been easy on anybody, but living in Canada far away from my family, my wife's family is from Houston so even farther from them, it's been very difficult for them to come up and to help with the boys and to come see us."
Petry played in the Stanley Cup Final with the Canadiens in 2021, losing to the Tampa Bay Lightning in five games. He has played 12 NHL seasons without winning the Stanley Cup, something the Penguins have done three times since 2009.
"They've been there," Petry said. "Everybody wants to get back there, which is what I look forward to the most. The team is built with one goal in mind. For me to be able to join that and do my part to help the team win, it's exciting for me. I don't see it as pressure. Early on in camp, get acquainted with everybody and find my role, exactly what everybody expects. But ultimately, it's for me to just go out and do whatever I can to make that team better."
Poehling, a 23-year-old forward, can become a restricted free agent after this season. The No. 25 pick in the 2017 NHL Draft has 22 points (13 goals, nine assists) in 85 NHL games, all for Montreal, including 17 points (nine goals, eight assists) in 57 games last season.
"I'm excited to be part of the Pittsburgh family," Poehling said Sunday. "They have a great organization. I think that it's going to fit me well. I had a lot of people call me yesterday and reach out. It was really nice. I'm just excited to get to work with the new team. The organization has been great for so many years, there's a reason behind that. ... I feel like there's a lot of new energy. Fresh start for myself and I'm looking to improve my game the best that I can in Pittsburgh."
Hextall said, "When Ryan was drafted, we really liked him. Felt like he's a big body (6-foot-2, 196 pounds) that's going to get better. Things haven't gone exactly, I don't think, the way that he would have liked him to go in Montreal, and we're hoping that sometimes a change can spur a guy on and we're hoping he can be a good two-way player for us."
The Penguins acquired Petry hours after trading defenseman John Marino to the New Jersey Devils for defenseman Ty Smith. They traded Matheson to the Canadiens after the 28-year-old defenseman set NHL career highs in goals (11), assists (20) and points (31) in 74 games last season. He has four seasons remaining on an eight-year contract he signed with the Florida Panthers on Oct. 9, 2017.
Pittsburgh acquired Matheson in a trade with Florida on Sept. 24, 2020. He has 138 points (49 goals, 89 assists) in 417 regular-season games with the Panthers and Penguins, and seven points (one goal, six assists) in 20 playoff games.
"Mike Matheson is a defenseman who was playing top-four minutes (18:48 per game) in Pittsburgh that brings a lot of the qualities that we lose in a Jeff Petry in terms of his ability to transport the puck," Canadiens GM Kent Hughes said. "I also know that as an individual, I really feel comfortable that Mike is the kind of person in our locker room at this point in his career who can assist our young players. I think Mike is a five-star human being who can be of great assistance to our club and helping our young players."
Matheson said he grew up a Canadiens fan in Quebec.
"It's been definitely a big whirlwind," Matheson said Monday. "I've got to say I didn't see any sort of trade coming but when I get to hear that it was Montreal, it was pretty special. I grew up in Montreal in the West Island, learned how to play hockey watching Montreal Canadiens games. I was a huge fan, our whole family would sit down and watch every game. So, to think I'll be able to put on that sweater and play in the Bell Centre every night is really special. It's a crazy feeling, it's pretty hard to describe, it almost feels surreal."
The Penguins signed defenseman Jan Rutta to a three-year, $8.25 million contract ($2.75 million AAV) on July 13. Though Pittsburgh has nine defensemen, Hextall said another trade isn't necessarily coming.
"We'll look at everything that comes along as we go and if we can strengthen one area, we'll certainly look at it," Hextall said. "But I think part of our biggest issue was our cap situation. It's a little closer to being compliant now, so certainly feel a little bit better about it than I did the other day. But we like our nine defensemen, so we'll kind of see where it goes and at some point here if there's a move to be made, I mean you're [going to have to] look at everything no matter what position."
The Canadiens also agreed to a two-year contract with unrestricted free agent Rem Pitlick on Saturday. The 25-year-old center had 26 points (nine goals, 17 assists) in 46 games for Montreal last season after he was claimed off waivers from the Minnesota Wild on Jan. 12. He has 39 points (15 goals, 24 assists) in 77 NHL games with the Nashville Predators, Wild and Canadiens.