Jeff Petry had to show the picture to his mom twice before she understood the significance.
As trades go, Petry could not have authored a better landing spot than the Detroit Red Wings as he enters the twilight of his career, returning to the area he calls home — the area where his dad, Dan, won a World Series with the Detroit Tigers in 1984. Petry was at Little Caesars Arena on Wednesday, the day after Montreal Canadiens general manager Kent Hughes, and then Wings GM Steve Yzerman, called to fill him in on the trade details.
“When the GM of Montreal called me and told me I was traded to Detroit, it was a big relief, and also a lot of excitement,” Petry said.
He had been in limbo of sorts since Aug. 6, when he was part of a three-team swap that sent him from Pittsburgh to Montreal, with the expectation he would be traded again. Following the deal, Hughes had asked where Petry would prefer to go, but that didn’t guarantee Petry would get his wish. When he found out he did, Petry sent out a group text to his parents, and called his wife, who was at Cedar Point with their oldest son.
“To hear that news that you’re coming home and coming to play for the team you watched growing up, to be able to put on this jersey, that means a lot,” Petry said. “Detroit was the No. 1 spot on my list. I want to play here, and I’ve wanted to my whole life. I like what I see when I look at that roster and the steps that this team has made over the last couple years. It’s a very special moment.”
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Dan Petry was busy in his role as studio analyst for the Tigers when the news broke, so the first father-son conversation was fairly short.
“I wanted him to be one of the first to know,” Petry said. “I haven’t spoken to him too much. We’ll find time to catch up now that things have settled in.”
It’s funny how things work out: Both of Petry’s parents are Californians who became Michigan transplants thanks to Dan’s baseball career; he played 11 seasons for the Tigers, wrapping up his career in 1991. The Petrys moved from Grosse Pointe to Farmington Hills when Jeff was around five.
“My dad retired here and it was, ‘What can be put our two boys in that is going to keep them busy year-round?’ ” Petry said. “It was baseball always in the summer. My dad knew nothing about hockey, but he knew it was big in Michigan, and that was his reason behind putting us in hockey.”
The 35-year-old Petry was 9 when the Wings won the Cup in 1997. He described his childhood bedroom as “Red Wings everything.”
“Hockey was always something I enjoyed more than baseball,” Petry continued. “It took me a while to finally tell my dad that. But I knew in high school that hockey was going to be the sport that I wanted to pursue.
“My dad was thrilled that I had chosen what I wanted to do and wanted to make my own path.”
It worked to Jeff’s advantage: He had a professional athlete father whom he could tap for advice on dealing with the mental and physical side of such a demanding job, but not one who nitpicked performances.
“He was always at practice, always at games, watching,” Petry said. “But he didn’t know much about it. So it’s been nice to talk about what it means to be a professional. But growing up, it was never X’s and O’s. I remember walking out of hockey games and he’d go, ‘How’d you play?’ I was like, ‘Good.’ And he’s like, ‘All right.’ He didn’t know anything.”
Petry, who wore No. 26 in previous stints with Montreal and Pittsburgh, will wear No. 46 with the Wings — the number his dad wore with the Tigers. That was the image he showed his mom. “She shook her and smiled and I thought, ‘OK, she’s not seeing it,’ ” Petry said. “So I had to really point it out. She was shocked.
“My dad was on set and sent me a nice note saying he never saw that coming.”
Why Petry appealed to the Wings is easy: He is a right-shot defenseman who posted four straight 40-point seasons (from 2017-18 to 2020-21) and reached 31 points as recently as last season. With the Canadiens and the Penguins, for whom he played in 2022-23, each retaining part of Petry’s $6.25 million annual salary, the Wings are only on the hook for $2.3 million in each of the remaining two seasons on his contract. Petry is an upgrade over Gustav Lindstrom, who was sent to the Canadiens in the trade after struggling to gain a foothold as a regular.
Petry is part of what has emerged as a pretty sizable overhaul since Yzerman dealt away Tyler Bertuzzi, Jakub Vrana and Filip Hronek at March’s trade deadline, with newcomers at next month’s training camp also including Alex DeBrincat, J.T. Compher, Klim Kostin, Christian Fischer, Daniel Sprong, Shayne Gostisbehere, Justin Holl and James Reimer.
Petry was at LCA the day after the trade to get his bearings and get his equipment sorted. In addition to Yzerman, Petry has chatted with head coach Derek Lalonde and other members of the coaching staff as he gets to know his new team.
“A few of the players live in our area, so I’ve seen a couple and talked to a few others,” Petry said. “It was nice to hear the messages and see and talk to a few. I’m looking forward to when more guys start filing into town and spending time getting to know each other.”
Contact Helene St. James at hstjames@freepress.com. Follow her on Twitter @helenestjames.
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Her latest book, “On the Clock: Behind the Scenes with the Detroit Red Wings at the NHL Draft,” is available from Amazon, Barnes & Noble and Triumph Books. Personalized copies available via her e-mail.“