The Minnesota Wild have been one of the better teams in the NHL this season, and with the trade deadline coming up, they have a chance to improve. It wasn't a big move, but they recently added some defensive depth to their team, acquiring Jeff Petry from the Florida Panthers, according to NHL insider Frank Seravalli.
“[Wild] have acquired D Jeff Perry from [Panthers] in exchange for a 7th round pick,” Seravalli wrote on X, formerly Twitter.
Petry appeared in 56 games for the Panthers this season and recorded eight assists. He's a real veteran in this league, and throughout his 16 seasons, he's played in 1,039 games, recording 96 goals and 393 points, as well as 1,616 blocked shots. When it comes to the postseason, he's appeared in 48 games and scored 13 points.
There's a good chance that Petry will be making an impact for the Wild in the playoffs if they continue their strong play for the rest of the year.
The Wild have tried to land some key pieces through this time, and one of the players they've had their eyes on is Vincent Trocheck from the New York Rangers. Unfortunately, it looks like it's going to cost a lot for them to pry him away, according to Michael Russo and Joe Smith of The Athletic.
“The price for the New York Rangers center appears to be too rich at this point,” The Athletic wrote. “It may just be that they don’t have the assets to get it done for a 32-year-old multi-faceted player with three years left on a reasonable $5.625 million average-annual-value contract.”
They still have enough time to make a move, but with the latest acquisition of Petry, it may be safe to say they've pivoted.
