Jeff Petry’s play has been a big plus for Canadiens to start season
Petry #Petry
Canadiens defenceman Jeff Petry has really impressed new teammate Josh Anderson.
“Before I came here, I didn’t really know much about Petey,” said Anderson, who was acquired from the Columbus Blue Jackets during the off-season in exchange for Max Domi. “I knew that he was a great player. But watching him up close you can see how good he is and how much of a special player he is. He reads plays and he makes those quick passes and he’s got great hockey sense.”
Petry has been impressing teammate Brendan Gallagher since the Canadiens acquired the defenceman from the Edmonton Oilers on March 2, 2015 in exchange for a second-round pick ( defenceman Jonas Siegenthaler ) and a fourth-round pick ( defenceman Caleb Jones ) at the 2015 NHL Draft. It was one of the best trades Canadiens GM Marc Bergevin has made and he rewarded the 33-year-old Petry during the off-season with a four-year, US$25-million contract extension that will take him through 2024-25 season.
“We’ve seen him pretty good around here for a long time,” Gallagher said about Petry. “Since he’s come to our team he seems to get better and better every year. He’s just someone we rely on. When you have kind of that 1-2 punch with him and Weby (Shea Weber) on the right side it’s pretty nice breaking the puck out on the right wing, I’ll tell you that much. It makes life pretty easy for us.
“They’re just so consistent,” Gallagher added. “And talking about Jeff, specifically, since he came to our team he’s just had an immediate impact. He plays in a role, versatile in every situation, you know you can count on Petey to get the job done. Great player and he just keeps getting better.”
Petry picked up an assist in the Canadiens’ 4-2 win over the Calgary Flames at the Bell Centre Thursday night, giving him 2-6-8 totals in seven games this season. Petry ranks fourth among NHL defencemen in scoring, trailing the Vancouver Canucks’ Quinn Hughes (1-10-11) by three points. Petry’s plus-8 is the second-best plus/minus differential among NHL defencemen, trailing the Washington Capitals’ Justin Schultz, who is plus-9. Petry’s defence partner, Joel Edmundson, is also plus-8.
Last season, Petry had 11-29-40 totals in 71 games and was minus-10. During his first six seasons with the Canadiens, Petry’s best plus/minus was plus-3 in 2016-17. It’s the only season he has finished with a plus with the Canadiens and he was minus-30 in 2017-18 when he had 12-30-42 totals in 82 games.
Plus/minus is one of those stats that has to be taken with a grain of salt — sometimes a very large one for a defenceman playing big minutes on a bad team — but Petry’s improvement in that department this season is eye-catching.
“I don’t know what the reasoning behind it is,” Petry said after the Canadiens held an optional morning skate Thursday at the Bell Sports Complex in Brossard. “I mean, I think as my career’s gone on I’ve evolved as a defenceman and gotten better in areas. The defensive side of the game was something that I’ve wanted to consistently work on to get better at. I think at the end of last year and the time in the (playoff) bubble I think I took, I guess, a bigger step in that direction. For me, it’s not changing much. Just, I guess, it’s playing with more confidence and being more assertive and on my toes.”
The hiring of Luke Richardson as an assistant coach in charge of the Canadiens defence before the start of the 2018-19 season has also helped Petry.
“Obviously, a guy that played for a long time in this league and has a lot of experience and knowledge to be shared,” Petry said about Richardson, who played 21 seasons in the NHL as a defenceman after being selected by the Toronto Maple Leafs in the first round (seventh overall) of the 1987 NHL Draft. “I think just the way he presents his message, whether it’s coaching you in-game or in video or during practice, it’s a calming approach. He’s never breathing down your back or screaming. Just his calming presence on the bench is something that I think a lot of us have benefitted from.”
Petry also has a new defence partner this season in Edmundson, who was acquired from the Carolina Hurricanes during the off-season. They’re still working on chemistry together after a short training camp with no pre-season games, but so far the results have been impressive.
“I think it’s difficult, especially in a year like this where you have just a handful of practices before jumping into games, and game action is definitely a lot different than what you get in practice or the long scrimmages that we had,” Petry said. “I think just the communication is huge and learning how one another play. I think so far we’ve done a good job at just talking about the system difference from where he was last year and just continuing to communicate and talk and answer questions on whatever situations I guess present themselves.”
The defensive pair has definitely been a big plus for the Canadiens to start the season.
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