Oilers re-sign Petry for $3.075M
He’ll be unrestricted free agent when one-year contract expires
— After pitching different options back and forth, the end result for Jeff Petry and the Edmonton Oilers was a one-year contract.
Petry’s $3.075-million deal will set him up for unrestricted free agency after the 201415 season.
“It was something that both sides had gone back and forth about, discussing all the options from terms to dollars,” the defenceman, said Monday after it was announced that the deal was done.
“This was just something that, at this time, we decided would be best. We wanted to see how the year went for myself, and for the team.”
Petry, 26, was a $1.75-million cap hit last year and the subject of trade talk — talk that won’t quiet down given that the Oilers will not let him walk at the end of the contract. They will definitely want something in return for their 2006 draft pick.
The two sides could also talk about an extension in the New Year.
General manager Craig MacTavish said the club had offered Petry a longer term deal but that it became clear that that wasn’t going to be an option.
“It’s a bit of a risky deal for us because we’re exposed on the asset. We very much view Jeff as a high end asset for us but at the same time we have to see what the level is,” MacTavish said. “Jeff is anticipating a high level and he has the ability to hit it out of the park. If that’s the case, we’re right back at the table next year negotiating a long term deal based on a tremendous season.”
“It’s part of the business,” Petry said of the rumblings. “But I don’t read too much into them. You just don’t even know where they are coming from, so I won’t worry about it unless something happens.”
“I definitely want to be more consistent this year,” said Petry, who recorded seven goals and 17 points in 80 games last season and led the team in blocked shots and hits. “There were too many times this past year in which I was up and down. That’s something I want to change.”
In the meantime, Petry will return to a blue-line that has undergone some changes this off-season with the acquisitions of Nikita Nikitin and Mark Fayne. He’ll also be playing under a new position coach with Craig Ramsay taking over from where Steve Smith, now with the Carolina Hurricanes, left off.
“Steve did a lot for my game,” said Petry, who has worked out with a former student of Ramsay’s. He told Petry that he had his best season ever playing for the Oilers’ new assistant coach.
“That kind of helps the transition, knowing how well-respected he is,” Petry continued.
He also said he saw the merit of adding more experience to the back end, although he acknowledged that players don’t readily want to relinquish minutes on the ice — even if it is more advantageous. Petry averaged 21:35 of ice time per game last season, on a team that gave up a league-high 267 goals. Only Justin Schultz played more (23:20).
The Oilers still have to resign Schultz, who like Petry, was a restricted free agent. He, too, received a qualifying offer from the club. Neither elected to file for arbitration.
There’s a bit of an impasse with the Schultz camp but the Oilers did not file for club arbitration, certain that a deal will get done.
“We want to treat Justin very fairly. He’s working his way through the system,” MacTavish said.