Confirmed with Link: Petry signs a one-year contract.

[Soundwave]

People need to understand our cap situation too ...

If we give Petry a long term deal at $4.5 mill per and then ink Schultz to a bridge deal for 2-3 years at $3 mill per ... we're only left with about $2-$3 mill in cap with no contracts really coming off the books next summer and Yakupov and Marincin both coming up as RFAs.

Now you can pray the cap increase covers everything, but there's no guarantee of that.

You can't be throwing around long term deals on everyone like you're giving away candy on Halloween.

 

[sepHF]

I think of myself pro Petry but can not ignore his mental breakdowns.

One of the recent arguments for Petry is that he is surrounded by junk and saddled with rookies.

Gotta say that is a load of crap. Talk about making excuses. The worst thing is that Petry was playing like garbage at the start of the year and was called out on several occasions for his many blunders. It was not until a rookie came in to help him out that he turned his game around. To say he was saddled with a rook is extremely misleading. I am sure they helped each other but Petry without Marincin was a train wreck.

Well he was surrounded by junk, we had one of, if not the worst defense in the entire NHL last year. That is a fact.

His three most common partners last year were Marincin, Klefbom and Belov. Three rookies, that is a fact.

This doesn't totally absolve Petry from his bad plays / mistakes, because those were plentiful but they wouldn't happen as often if he was sheltered a bit and had better support.

Also every dman that played with Petry last year played better with him than without, but I agree Marincin seemed to calm his game down.

 

[shoop]

Gamesmanship? What does that mean?

Has anyone actually said he's a real #1? On a good team, he'd be an excellent 3D, maybe a 2D if paired with a bona fide #1. As it stands, he's the best we've got.

He definitely was the best we had last year. This year remains to be seen.

As a good 3D he's probably not worth the long-term extension. That's why I agree the one year deal was the best for all parties.

Play him top pairing minutes, again this season, with Nikitin. Nikitin will help with the possession and transition games. If a stronger partner doesn't help Petry cut down on the mental mistakes at least the team knows what they have.

If he really is only a 3D then he might not be worth a long-term extension unless it's very reasonable on aav and term.

If he can prove he is a true top pairing guy, then he will have earned his money.

 

[Moose Coleman]

He definitely was the best we had last year. This year remains to be seen.

As a good 3D he's probably not worth the long-term extension. That's why I agree the one year deal was the best for all parties.

Play him top pairing minutes, again this season, with Nikitin. Nikitin will help with the possession and transition games. If a stronger partner doesn't help Petry cut down on the mental mistakes at least the team knows what they have.

TBH I'm more worried about Nikitin's ability to handle top pairing minutes than Petry. Not convinced he's any better than Marincin at this stage.

If he really is only a 3D then he might not be worth a long-term extension unless it's very reasonable on aav and term.

If he can prove he is a true top pairing guy, then he will have earned his money

.

How long term are we talking? I don't see any issue with giving a 3-4D term. Chicago did that with Oduya and Hjalmarsson. As we've seen here in the last few years, good D men don't grow on trees. Makes sense that if you have one, you should keep them around.

 

[shoop]

TBH I'm more worried about Nikitin's ability to handle top pairing minutes than Petry. Not convinced he's any better than Marincin at this stage.

Nikitin is better than anyone we had playing top pairing with Petry last year. IMO the best option for trying to develop Petry.

The excuse for Petry's mental mistakes last year was that he wa asked to do too much on the top pairing. If he doesn't have to worry as much about possession and has a partner that can move the puck. Who would you pair Petry with?

How long term are we talking? I don't see any issue with giving a 3-4D term. Chicago did that with Oduya and Hjalmarsson. As we've seen here in the last few years, good D men don't grow on trees. Makes sense that if you have one, you should keep them around.

Maybe you give him 3 or 4 years. But not for much more than the aav on his one-year deal. So much depends on the increase in revenue from the Bell TV deal.

 

[Aerchon]

Ironically, Petry without Marincin was still better than most every other Oilers D, including Justin Schultz.

Ironically is not the right word.

Pathetically is how I would have described it. There was no way anyone with a lick of hockey sense could even say Petry played "well" in the first half of last season. Schultz may have been worse but when your comparing piles of turd, consistency and colour don't matter.

 

[Moose Coleman]

Nikitin is better than anyone we had playing top pairing with Petry last year. IMO the best option for trying to develop Petry.

Like I said: I have more confidence in Marincin. Nikitin has never been a top pairing D.

The excuse for Petry's mental mistakes last year was that he was asked to do too much on the top pairing. If he doesn't have to worry as much about possession and has a partner that can move the puck. Who would you pair Petry with?

I'd keep the partnership with Marincin together. Cut back the minutes a bit, give some of the tougher ZS to a Fayne/Nikitin pairing, see how that jives.

Maybe you give him 3 or 4 years. But not for much more than the aav on his one-year deal. So much depends on the increase in revenue from the Bell TV deal.

Risk here is that he plays well and starts asking for more money or term than you would have given him now. Not that I'm against the one year deal by any means.