It's been a busy day on the blue line for the Pittsburgh Penguins. The Penguins have acquired defenseman Jeff Petry and forward Ryan Poehling from the Montreal Canadiens in exchange for Mike Matheson and a 2023 fourth-round pick.
Earlier in the day, Penguins general manager Ron Hextall swapped John Marino for Ty Smith of the New Jersey Devils and a third-round pick.
Matheson departs after two seasons with the Penguins, in which he scored 47 points (16-31) in 118 regular season games. The 28-year-old defenseman's mercurial style provided endless entertainment when he was on the ice that both helped and hurt the Penguins at points. His skating and offensive ability molded well with defensive coach Todd Reirden's aggressive game plan on the back end.
Petry has been on the Canadiens trade block for the better part of the past year due to a sizeable salary cap hit of $6.25 million over the next three seasons. The large contract also includes a modified no-trade clause, meaning Petry can submit a list of 15 teams he doesn't want to go to if the Penguins choose to move on from him in the future.
The 34-year-old blueliner is coming off a down year, playing on the worst team in the NHL last season. Petry finished the year with 27 points (6-21) in 68 games while collecting the worst underlying numbers he has had in over six seasons.
Poehling, on the other hand, is a young depth forward who has struggled to gain a footing with the Canadiens organization. At 6'2" and 198 pounds, Poehling will bring size and an underdeveloped skillset to the Penguin's bottom six.
The 23-year-old forward had a memorable NHL debut during the 2018-19 season. He scored a hat trick against the Toronto Maple Leafs before winning the game for the Canadiens in the shootout.
While the Penguins still have nine NHL-caliber defensemen on the current roster, Hextall believes another trade doesn't necessarily need to be made before the season begins. With two months until the start of training camp, Kasperi Kapanen and Kasper Bjorkqvist remain the only Penguins unsigned restricted free agents. The Penguins now have $1.96 million in salary cap space with 13 forwards, eight defensemen, and two goalies on the roster.
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