Major trade negotiations between the Canadiens and the Penguins: Kent Hughes was greatly surprised when he learned he could acquire Jeff Petry

This transaction thus put an end to the numerous rumors and speculations regarding the defenseman's future with the Canadiens.

In his recent press briefing, the General Manager of the Canadiens, Kent Hughes, explained the process that first allowed the club to acquire Petry, only to later trade him. It's interesting to see that Hughes unknowingly came here to help Kyle Dubas and the Penguins.

Indeed, when he called his counterpart in Pittsburgh, Hughes had no idea that Petry hadn't included Montreal in the list of teams he did not want to be traded to.

It was a big surprise for him, and he only found out later in the transaction process, while they had been looking for a way to finalize the Erik Karlsson deal.

A negotiation sprint followed, as the deal had to be concluded before Sunday morning, because Dubas was going to use another method to free up space. Hughes then agreed to take Petry, but ran out of time to finalize another deal before the announcement of the Karlsson trade, which immediately sent Petry elsewhere. That's why more than a week elapsed between Petry's arrival and his departure.

Despite everything we might have heard in the rumors and speculations, Hughes did indeed contact the former Canadien to explain the situation. He then promised to do everything possible to ensure he could return to the United States, with a new team, before his children's school started.

Knowing all this, we can see that this transaction wasn't carried out by the General Manager, but by the former agent. He took into consideration the man's family situation, instead of stubbornly keeping him and perhaps getting more later. It's to his credit!

Still, considering the circumstances, the return wasn't bad...