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Montreal Canadiens re-sign Jeff Petry for six years at $33 million
The Montreal Canadiens have re-signed defenseman Jeff Petry for … a lot of money.
Per ESPN’s Pierre LeBrun, the cost of the 27-year-old’s contract is $33 million over six years. Cody Franson another pending unrestricted free agent defenseman of the same age, suddenly got really happy.
“We are very happy that Jeff has agreed to remain with the Montreal Canadiens for the next six seasons. To re-sign him to a new contract was one of our main off-season priorities. Jeff showed a tremendous will to commit to the Canadiens and stay in Montreal,” said general manager Marc Bergevin. “He is a solid defenseman with speed and size who acquired valuable playoff experience this year. Jeff is a very good fit within our group of defensemen and his presence gives us a lot of depth at this position.”
The Canadiens acquired Petry’s services at the trade deadline from Edmonton for a second-round pick in the 2015 draft and a conditional 2015 pick. In 19 games with Montreal, scored three goals and added four assists and averaged 22:11 of ice-time.
Before he was saved by Montreal, he notched 15 points in 59 games with the Edmonton Oilers, where he had played his entire career. After he was acquired by Montreal, he had a 42.62 5-on-5 CF% via naturalstattrick.
The signing solidifies the Canadiens’ defence corps going into next season. Petry joins Norris Trophy finalist P.K. Subban, Andrei Markov and Alexei Emelin in the top four. Tom Gilbert is also under contract for next season, while GM Marc Bergevin has Nathan Beaulieu and Jarred Tinordi to deal with in the near future. Both players are restricted free agents.
Let’s now play the game … so if Petry is worth $33 million over six years, how much will someone pay Franson or another pending unrestricted free agent? The Nashville Predators are likely to not bign back Franson. This probably sets the market for the summer for a top four defenseman.
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Josh Cooper is an editor for Puck Daddy on Yahoo Sports. Have a tip? Email him at puckdaddyblog@yahoo.com or follow him on Twitter! Follow @joshuacooper
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