NHL Trade Deadline Rumors: St. Louis Blues Interested in Edmonton Oilers’ Jeff Petry
Despite St. Louis Blues GM Doug Armstrong’s assertion this week that he didn’t think his team would be active at the trade deadline, Sportsnet’s John Shannon is reporting that the Blues are among the candidates to acquire defenseman Jeff Petry from the Edmonton Oilers:
Two of the teams in on Petry....St. Louis (who are in Edmonton tonight)...and Boston (who play an early game today). #NHLTrade
— John Shannon (@JShannonhl) February 28, 2015
The 27-year-old Petry will be a healthy scratch tonight against the Blues, and it’s seen as a strong possibility that he could be dealt imminently. Petry, who was drafted by Edmonton in 2006 and has spent the entirety of his five-year NHL career with the Oilers, is a defensively-minded blueliner who can move the puck. If he was traded to St. Louis, he would likely be part of the Blues’ bottom defensive pairing, which usually has been comprised of Barret Jackman and either Ian Cole or Chris Butler to this point.
Petry has four goals and 11 assists this year, along with 32 penalty minutes and a disastrous minus-25 rating. While there can’t be too much stock put into that stat considering that nearly every player on Edmonton’s conference-worst roster has a negative plus-minus, it’s still a bit concerning that Petry has had a negative rating during four of his five years in the NHL.
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Petry is currently on a one-year deal with Edmonton that pays him $3,075,000, and he’ll be an unrestricted free agent at season’s end. With that in mind, the price for him would probably be a draft pick. If multiple contending teams are in line to acquire him, that could mean that the price is driven up to a first-rounder. The Blues don’t have a first-round pick this year, and Armstrong suggested the other day that the organization would be very hesitant to part with their first-rounders in future years.