TOP 100 OILERS: JEFF PETRY (68)
7 years ago
There are some polarizing players on this list and Jeff Petry certainly ranks among them when it comes to a thumbs-up or a thumbs down from fans and pundits during his time with the Edmonton Oilers. The thumbs-up crowd sees Petry as an effective defender who skates well, can move the puck and eat up second-pairing minutes.
The thumbs-down folks were often driven to distraction by Petry’s defensive lapses and unwillingness to engage physically by way of the big hit. I’ve got to admit, I found myself on this side of the fence often. That said, warts and all, Petry was and is a bonafide top-four NHL blueliner and a right-shot guy, no less. There hasn’t exactly been a surplus of those around here.
Jeff Petry
Defense — shoots R
Born Dec 9 1987 — Ann Arbor, MI
Height 6.03 — Weight 204 [191 cm/93 kg]
Drafted by Edmonton Oilers
Round 2 #45 overall 2006 NHL Entry Draft
BY THE NUMBERS
Season | Tm | GP | G | A | PTS | +/- | PIM | S% | ATOI |
2010-11 | 35 | 1 | 4 | 5 | -12 | 10 | 2.4 | 20:22 | |
2011-12 | 73 | 2 | 23 | 25 | -7 | 26 | 1.8 | 21:46 | |
2012-13 | 48 | 3 | 9 | 12 | 1 | 29 | 4.5 | 21:55 | |
2013-14 | 80 | 7 | 10 | 17 | -22 | 42 | 7.3 | 21:35 | |
2014-15 | TOT | 78 | 7 | 15 | 22 | -28 | 42 | 5.6 | 21:15 |
2014-15 | 59 | 4 | 11 | 15 | -25 | 32 | 3.9 | 20:57 | |
2014-15 | 19 | 3 | 4 | 7 | -3 | 10 | 13.0 | 22:11 | |
2015-16 | 51 | 5 | 11 | 16 | -6 | 16 | 5.1 | 21:21 | |
5 yrs | EDM | 295 | 17 | 57 | 74 | -65 | 139 | 4.1 | 21:25 |
2 yrs | MTL | 70 | 8 | 15 | 23 | -9 | 26 | 6.6 | 21:35 |
Career | 365 | 25 | 72 | 97 | -74 | 165 | 4.6 | 21:27 |
NOTABLE
Petry, of course, was traded to Montreal for draft picks because then-Oiler GM Craig MacTavish didn’t see as much value in him as he did Justin Shultz – think about that for a second – rather than lose the pending UFA for nothing after failing to lock him up to a long-term deal. The Habs later inked Petry to a six-year deal worth $33 million. It’s a contract that falls anywhere between being pretty much in line with other defenders of his ilk or a waste of money, depending on who you talk to.
Former Oiler Georges Laraque, who works a microphone in Montreal these days, assessed Petry this way in an interview with Bob Stauffer of 630 CHED: “He’s not hitting anybody, he’s not physical. He’s playing with the end of the stick. Everybody walks all around him.
“He makes tons of mistakes. He doesn’t look interested at all. And they’re stuck with him at the money. And it’s crazy how things turned that quickly because MacT was right. He didn’t want to give him the $6 million per year and we have to admit it, MacT was right.” The entire rant is here.
THE STORY
I’m not so sure “MacT was right.” While Petry wasn’t exactly my cup of tea, as noted earlier, and I’d call his contract with Montreal an overpay, but with all the talk about a lack of proven (and even unproven) right-shot D-men in Edmonton these days, letting him get away for picks was a mistake.
Too often, Petry was misscast here, playing too many minutes and doing it without much in the way of a supporting cast. When you’re not an offensive dynamo, and Petry certainly wasn’t in his time here – he had 74 points in 295 games – defensive mistakes aren’t passed off as easily as those made by more dynamic players.
As is the case with polarizing players like Petry, some of you will say I have him too high on this list while others might like him far more than I do. I find myself trying to split the difference – for me, even with his duly noted shortcomings and unwillingness to bang, Petry was a pretty good player on some really bad teams here.
This series will look at the top 100 Edmonton Oilers from the NHL era 1979-80 to 2014-15, starting with 100 and working up.
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