Fixing the Penguins Defense Starts by Trading Jeff Petry

The Pittsburgh Penguins need to overhaul their defense again this summer.

Missing the playoffs is always a catalyst for change among NHL franchises, and the Pittsburgh Penguins will be no different this summer. Regardless of who becomes the Penguins' next general manager, restructuring the defense will be on the to-do list in the coming months.

If it feels like déjà vu, that's because it is. The Penguins retooled the blue line last offseason, trading out Mike Matheson and John Marino to bring back Jeff Petry and Ty Smith while signing free agent Jan Rutta.

Those changes netted negative results this season as the Penguins suffered a significant drop in defensive performance. They fell from sixth in 2021-22 to 21st this past season in expected goals allowed per 60 minutes and dropped a similar distance in 5v5 goals allowed from tenth to 19th this year.

Petry epitomized the Penguins' new-look defense as Burke and Hextall preached "net front presence" and "bigger-bodied defensemen" last July. In reality, the additions of Rutta and Petry signified a move to older and slower defensemen with similar investments in the salary cap.

It took a while for Petry to acclimate to his new team, which happens to most players. He failed to find consistency due to multiple injuries during the back half of the season.

With Petry making $6.25 million for the next two seasons, the most among Penguins defensemen, it would make sense that the restructuring of this defense begins with his trade. His departure would allow the Penguins to use that cap space to become younger and faster from the blue line out.

Combine that with the departures of Brian Dumoulin and Dmitry Kulikov in free agency, and the Penguins will have a $15.5 million blue line consisting of Kris Letang, Marcus Pettersson, Jan Rutta, P.O. Joseph, Chad Ruhwedel, and Ty Smith. 

While that's certainly not a finished product, it would provide a cheaper and younger base to build the blue line around.

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