Jeff Petry Is Thrilled Hometown Red Wings Traded For Him
Jeff Petry has technically been traded twice this offseason. Pittsburgh sent Petry back to Montreal in the Erik Karlsson trade. Petry was then flipped to Detroit after money was retained by the incumbent club on both deals.
It’s pretty safe to say that Petry is happy that the Red Wings traded for him. Petry is a native of Ann Arbor, Michigan and played for Michigan State for three years in collegiate hockey. Petry expressed how happy he was with the trade to Detroit.
“You grow up watching a team, you always play that situation out in your mind of you wearing that jersey. … You keep thinking in your head, ‘OK, when is that opportunity going to come? Can it come?'” he said Wednesday during his introductory presser.
“For me, I always thought about wanting to play one year here maybe at the end of my career, or whenever the opportunity came. To get that call yesterday was a very special moment for me.”
There are reasons to be optimistic about this roster too. Alex DeBrincat is a huge add. Dylan Larkin is still there. Lucas Raymond and Mo Seider are two young players with serious promise. JT Compher was signed too.
“Detroit was the No. 1 spot on my list,” he said. “I want to play here – I’ve wanted to my whole life. I like what I see when I look at that roster.”
“I think you see some of the younger players over the last couple years there getting that experience, starting to figure out what their roles are in the league,” he said. “Adding players like (Alex DeBrincat) and (J.T. Compher), those kind of guys, you can see the roster starting to round out.
“I’m excited to get started and do what I can to help that team continue to take those steps forward.”
