Minnesota Wild Acquire Jeff Petry

The Minnesota Wild are adding a veteran presence to their backend ahead of the playoffs. According to a team announcement, the Wild have acquired Jeff Petry from the Florida Panthers for a conditional 2026 seventh-round pick.

Included in Minnesota’s announcement were the conditions on the draft pick. If the Wild make it to the Western Conference Final, and Petry plays in 50% or more of the Wild’s playoff games heading into the Western Conference Final, the pick will upgrade to Minnesota’s fifth-round pick this season.

At this stage of his career, Petry, 38, is only fit for a depth role. This season, his first with the Panthers, he was relegated to a bottom-pairing role. Throughout the year, he has tallied eight assists in 58 games with a -10 rating, averaging 14:51 of ice time.

That’s largely what he turned into during his time with the Detroit Red Wings. Before moving to Sunrise, Petry spent two years in HockeyTown, scoring four goals and 32 points in 117 games. Unlike his time with the Panthers, Petry was typically in Detroit’s top-two defensive pairings.

Given his play with the Red Wings, it was no question why Petry had to settle for a one-year, league minimum contract last summer. Playing next to Ben Chiarot for much of last season, the pair finished with the lowest xGoals% in the league (for pairings that had played 400 or more minutes together) with a 41.3% output.

That trend has continued with Florida. According to Moneypuck, the combination of Uvis Balinskis and Petry has combined for a 46.6% xGoals% this season, ranking 65th out of 83 defensive pairings that have played 300 or more minutes together.

That makes the move more peculiar on Minnesota’s end. The team already had seven defensemen on the active roster before the trade and had multiple defensive assets in the AHL that have already played this season. At any rate, instead of spending potentially his last season in the NHL with a team outside of a playoff spot, Petry will have the opportunity to compete for the first Stanley Cup of his career.