Firstly, Jeff Petry is being shopped by the Montreal Canadiens. I think this is well known, but it made headlines again recently. Teams around the league are well aware of this, and he will likely be traded early on in the offseason.
Petry requested to be traded prior to the deadline, but no suitor was found. His wish will be granted this summer.
Secondly, reports say that the Canadiens are very high on Slovakian winger Juraj Slafkovsky. However, passing up on Shane Wright is not something they want to do. The alternative would be to make a pitch to New Jersey to acquire the 2nd overall pick. In my opinion, a trade to acquire this pick from New Jersey would likely have to include Calgary’s 1st round pick, a prospect, and a top 6 player like Brendan Gallagher. While this is just speculation, it would be interesting to see that unfold.
For context, Slafkovsky played in the LIIGA this past season and notched 5 goals and 5 assists for 10 points in 31 games. He played for team Slovakia at the 2022 World Championship in Finland as well, tallying 9 points including 3 goals in 8 games. We’ll see more from Slafkovsky this August when he competes in the World Junior Championship in Alberta.
Finally, headlines were made yesterday when Martin St. Louis’ interim tag was removed after signing a 3-year deal to officially become head coach in Montreal.
During his small tenure with Montreal this past season, following the firing of Dominique Ducharme, he coached 37 games. He finished his season with a record of 14-19-4, improving drastically on the record the Canadiens had prior to his hiring. We’ll see him get a full season with tons of new rookies this October!
