Florida Panthers defenseman Jeff Petry (2) shoots the puck as New York Rangers defenseman Braden Schneider (4) defends in the third period of their Winter Classic outdoor hockey game at loanDepot park on Friday, Jan. 2, 2026, in Miami, Fla.
Photo by Matias J. Ocner
mocner@miamiherald.com
The Florida Panthers had success the past two seasons with bringing in veteran defensemen in need of a reset. Oliver Ekman-Larsson in the 2023-24 season and Nate Schmidt in the 2024-25 season played pivotal roles in Florida becoming back-to-back Stanley Cup champions.
Their attempt to fill part of their third defense pair in that fashion for a third consecutive season, this time with Jeff Petry, didn’t work out like it did with Ekman-Larsson and Schmidt.
And with the Panthers all but out of playoff contention this season, Petry became expendable.
The Panthers on Thursday traded Petry to the Minnesota Wild, giving the 16-year NHL veteran a chance to win his first Stanley Cup — a goal he hoped to accomplish with Florida before the Panthers’ season flamed out due to a slew of injuries and overall underachievement on the ice.
Florida is getting a conditional 2026 seventh-round back in return. The pick becomes a fifth-round selection in if Minnesota wins two playoff rounds and Petry plays in at least half of the Wild’s playoff games during those first two rounds.
Petry, 38, played in 58 games for the Panthers after signing for the league minimum $775,000 in the offseason. He logged eight assists in that span and had a plus-minus rating of minus-10 while averaging just under 15 minutes of ice time per game — nearly four minutes less than his previous career low.
With veteran Dmitry Kulikov back from a shoulder injury, Seth Jones nearing a return from a broken collarbone, the rise of Uvis Balinskis and Florida wanting to see what they have in Donovan Sebrango, there wasn’t a need to keep Petry. Even more, Florida has prospects in Mikulas Hovorka and Mike Benning waiting in the wings to potentially get playing time down the stretch of a lost season if the Panthers were to shut down some of their top players.
The NHL trade deadline is at 3 p.m. Friday.
This story was originally published March 5, 2026 at 3:38 PM.
.JPG)
Miami Herald
Jordan McPherson covers the Miami Hurricanes and Florida Panthers for the Miami Herald. He attended the University of Florida and covered the Gators athletic program for five years before joining the Herald staff in December 2017.