The Oilers made yet another smart move on Monday, re-signing top-defender Jeff Petry to a one-year contract extension. The deal comes in at a great dollar figure for the Oilers, only $3.075 M for the year, but comes at the price of term, as Petry will be a UFA next July. While Edmonton gets a bargain this season, they run a major risk here, and the future is up for debate with Petry.
The Immediate Future:
The big take away here is that the Oilers keep their best defender. People love to attack Jeff Petry because he isn’t overly physical and he isn’t Chris Pronger. While he isn’t a number one NHL defender, or even a high end two, he’s still a very good option and is arguably still the Oil’s best bet in this spot.
Petry makes a number of mistakes, but is playing way over his head. He battles the best players in the Western Conference every night and does break about even, which is a pretty big deal considering the other options Edmonton has. Petry has great puck-moving ability too, and is one of the few guys that can move the play in the right direction from the defensive zone.
He’s not a sexy name, and his underlying numbers aren’t exactly great either, in fact he posted a 46.7% Corsi For this year, but he’s a solid top-four option and is a good player when everything is considered.
Yes, he needs to improve things, such as his physical play, his ability to win battles, his coverage at times, but he’s still a guy that can move the puck well and survive playing over 20 minutes a night in the killer Western Conference. That counts for something, and the Oilers are a better team with Petry than without him.
Getting him at this dollar figure is a big get for Edmonton, as it keeps the Oilers cap situation in a good spot to potentially make more moves down the line. The only problem here is that this is a one-year deal. More on that in a few minutes.
As for what this signing means, well barring a trade (which is possible) the defense is set. Nikitin, Fayne, Marincin and Petry will likely be the top-four, while Andrew Ference, Justin Schultz and Keith Aulie fill the final three spots. It’s not great, but it’s a major improvement over last season, and it’ll show on the ice.
Even more important, this likely pushes Oscar Klefbom back to the AHL to start the year, and almost certainly pushes Darnell Nurse back for his final season of junior hockey. This is highly valuable development time being given to these guys.
The Long-Term Future:
This one-year deal tells us a lot about the future of the relationship between Petry and the Oil. The Oilers clearly are not sold on Petry long-term, and Jeff knows he is going to get paid if he gets to market next July. Petry’s name has been in trade rumors, and a one-year deal allows for some flexibility trade wise.
It’s possible that the Oilers move Petry before the season begins, giving a team a full year trial at a very friendly cap hit, which would help trade value in the short-term. Moving past that however, this is a pending UFA that likely will want to test the market and get paid come July 1st, 2015. The Oilers won’t get much next March at the deadline if they wait.
Ideally, this is simply a bridge contract between the Oilers and Petry, but I think the one-year term seals the fate that Jeff will get moved by the Oilers within the next year. If that is the case, that’s a terrible loss for the Oilers, this kid can really help this team.
Final Thoughts:
This is a mixed bag. I love that Petry is signed up, but the term is a bit worrisome. I think we really need to start thinking about where Petry could end up and what we could expect in return, it’s feeling like that break-up is coming. It might not be until March, but the term makes it feel around the corner.
Aside from that, this is a good cap hit and a good player signed up. The defense is improved over last season, and overall the team’s chance to be in the playoff race is better off with number two in the line-up. Hopefully he continues to progress and move into his prime, cementing himself as a major part of this team.
Two RFA’s off to board, and many to go, but only one NHL’er. The Justin Schultz negotiations are ongoing, but don’t appear to be close. That’ll be interesting to watch. Oh, and finding that center, we can’t forget about that.
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