New Penguins defenseman Jeff Petry is closer to home and ready to win

Jeff Petry has a unique place in NHL history.

A native of Ann Arbor, Mich., he has played the most games in NHL history of any American-born player for Canadian teams with 803.

And he’s going to lose that distinction almost as soon as the 2022-23 season begins by virtue of Saturday’s trade that sent the right-handed defenseman from the Montreal Canadiens to the Pittsburgh Penguins.

Winnipeg Jets forward Blake Wheeler, a son of Plymouth, Minn., is right on Petry’s heels with 802 contests, all with the Jets.

Petry isn’t upset over losing his claim to that odd bit of trivia.

In fact, he wanted it.

In December, Petry requested a trade from Canadiens management, having grown weary of the logistical challenges of his family, based south of the 49th parallel, visiting him in Montreal.

Restrictions in place for covid-19 with the border between the United States and Canada over the past two years made treks between Montreal and his home in Michigan a laborious process and prompted Petry’s request.

“Pittsburgh is a little over a four-hour drive from our house in Michigan,” said Petry, who welcomed the birth of his fourth child — all sons — six days before he was traded. “So that’s nice for my wife, (being able to) hop in the car on a Friday night and be home at a reasonable hour. That’s nice, the ability to go back and forth. The past couple of years with (covid-19) hasn’t been easy on anybody. Living in Canada, far away from my family — my wife’s family is from Houston, so even further for them — it was very difficult for them to come up and help out with the boys and come see us.

“It is nice now that that’s all in the past, and we’re closer to home and we can all be together again.”

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It remains to be seen how Petry will fit in on the Penguins’ blue line. Currently, the team has nine NHL-caliber defensemen under contract and limited salary cap space ($1,969,825 according to Cap Friendly). So at least one member of that group figures to be traded at some point.

A veteran of 12 NHL seasons with the Canadiens as well as the Edmonton Oilers, Petry certainly has a preference for the type of partner he has enjoyed the most success with.

“A guy that’s more on the defensive-minded side of things is somebody that I’ve had the most success with in my career,” Petry said. “I look back at playing with (Joel) Edmundson, and before that it was Jordie Benn and Alexei Emelin. Those are guys that can bring some offense but are very strong on the defensive side of the puck. Those are the guys that come to mind that I felt most comfortable with in my career.

“I do like to skate the puck, like to get up in the play. Knowing that there’s a strong defensive partner with me is something that I guess gives me a little bit of comfort.”

But it’s clear the Penguins were determined in pursuing the 34-year-old Petry this offseason. And Petry is elated their pursuit reached its terminus.

“To be honest, I didn’t really know where I was going to end up,” Petry said Sunday in a video conference with media. “My agent (Wade Arnott) said Pittsburgh is showing a lot of interest. It seemed like everybody was always saying Detroit, Dallas and a handful of other teams. Pittsburgh wasn’t talked about. But when my agent mentioned (the Penguins) to me, my eyes kind of got big because you look at what they’ve done in the past and the roster that they have.”

“Just talking to some people yesterday, it’s a great organization, a great team. Their wont to win is very apparent. That’s the most exciting thing for me, is to be on a team that’s ready and eager to win.”

The Penguins paid a heavy price to acquire Petry. He and reserve forward Ryan Poehling come to Pittsburgh in exchange for dynamic left-handed defenseman Mike Matheson and a fourth-round pick in the 2023 NHL Draft.

“When you’re trading for good players, you’re going to have to give up good players,” Penguins general manager Ron Hextall said on Saturday. “Mike is a good player. We certainly valued Mike, but we just feel like Jeff at this point is a little better fit for us. He can play all situations. He can log big minutes. We just felt like right now with our right side with Letang and Petry and Rutta is extremely strong. We (also) got Chad and (Mark Friedman) there. So we’re feeling pretty good about our right side. When you’ve got an opportunity to add a player of Jeff Petry’s magnitude, we felt like it was a good fit with our group.”

In his mid-30s, Petry will be among peers with the likes of franchise pillars Sidney Crosby (34), Evgeni Malkin (35) and Kris Letang (35).

His guile and experience led him to be a leader on a mostly younger Canadiens squad.

“He was one of my close friends,” said Poehling, a native of Plymouth, Minn. “We were a couple of the only American guys on (Montreal’s roster). It was easy to kind of hang out with him. His family did a great job — as a young guy — bringing me in. I would go over there for dinners, hang out with him, his kids, his family. When we found out, I FaceTimed him. Him and his whole family answered, had a big smile on their faces. I’m glad that he’s coming there with me and I’m going there with him because he’s a great guy, a great player, too. I’m fired up for that.”

Last season, Petry appeared in 68 games and scored 27 points (six goals, 21 assists) while averaging 22 minutes, 7 seconds of ice time.

Even with his experience, Petry admitted to lacking confidence in the first half of last season.

“I had my struggles on and off the ice last year,” said Petry, “The second half of the (season), I started to find my game again, which is something I put a lot of work in. I was happy that came around. It was a good way to end the year to build off to be ready for next (season).”

The son of Dan Petry, a Major League Baseball pitcher for 13 seasons who won a World Series ring in 1984 with the Detroit Tigers, Jeff Petry grew accustomed to immense expectations in hockey-mad Montreal.

He’s ready to embrace similar demands with the Penguins.

“I don’t think I see it as pressure,” said Petry, whose salary cap hit of $6.25 million is the second highest on the Penguins at the moment. “It’s excitement for me. They’ve been there, and everybody wants to get back there. The team is built with one goal in mind. For me to be able to join that and do my part to help the team win, it’s exciting for me. … Ultimately, it’s for me to just go out and do whatever I can to make that team better.”

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