He's also old and expensive. Petry has negative value right now and Montreal would have to add to move him, just like NYR had to pay to move Marc Staal.
I don't think Petry has negative value. I think if he was UFA last summer he'd get more or less this deal he has now. Look at Suter's deal with Dallas. If he was to be a UFA this summer he'd probably have a more deflated contract but this year is clearly a massive blip in an otherwise reliably productive career. He's had four straight 40-point seasons and last year he had 42 points in 55 games (that's 62 points in a 82 game season!).
The question is if it is a blip or the start of a slide. It is for this reason Montreal is willing to trade him for less than his "real" value. Top-3 dmen with playoff experience who can skate exceptionally well and produce points are worth more than "only" a 2nd round pick/B prospect.
The way I see it, to improperly use rudimentary algebra notation:
Jeff Petry = X
Un/certainty of Petry's future value = M = let's say... it's 0.8
Impact on buyer's cap structure = B
Immediate value of trade counterpart = Y
Y = MX + B
Is "[Prospect] worth an 80% chance that Petry will return to being a 6.25m player for the next three years"?
Is "[Prospect] worth a 50% chance that Petry will return to being a 6.25m player for the next three years"?
Given this (admittedly silly) paradigm I don't think he's
negative value, I mean... he's coming off a 62-point pace season. Is he worth taking a chance on with this cap hit for a team that wants a top3 RD? I think so. Is it worth trading [X] for that contract? I also think there is some sorta fit somewhere, so I'm curious what it would be.