\u201cI\u2019ve always been a big lefty-righty guy. Unfortunately, with Stephen Johns, we thought he\u2019d be a part of this but you lose him and his career is over. Klingberg\u2019s been a big part of that and now he\u2019s set for free agency,\u201d said Nill on his desire to shore up the right defence position. \u201cWe know that and we\u2019re looking to address that in the offseason, whether that\u2019s via free agency or trades. That\u2019s something we\u2019re going to look at.\u201d<\/p>\n
This allows the Stars and the Canadiens to reopen discussions they had previously had prior to the NHL Trade Deadline in the month of March, especially with the extra fiscal flexibility the off-season affords them.<\/p>\n
A Link Between Montreal Canadiens and Dallas Stars<\/p>\n
Montreal Hockey Now had reported that talks had begun between the Montreal Canadiens and the Dallas Stars<\/a> prior to the NHL Trade Deadline, and it appears they will likely pick back up again this summer.<\/p>\n In his latest post for The Athletic, NHL Insider Pierre Lebrun shared a similar opinion on the link between the Petry and Klingberg situations.<\/p>\n \u201cIf the Stars lose Klingberg to free agency, I wouldn\u2019t be surprised to see Montreal\u00a0pick up the phone and gauge the Stars on\u00a0Jeff Petry, 34, who has three years left on his deal at a $6.25 million cap hit,\u201d wrote LeBrun<\/a>.<\/p>\n Montreal Hockey Now received similar information from some sources across the NHL, with one NHL executive going as far as directly linking Petry to the Stars on the NHL trade market.<\/p>\n \u201cI don\u2019t expect Klingberg back there but that can change. Still, something to keep an eye on. Petry could help, but the Stars need to figure out if they\u2019re contenders first.\u201d<\/p>\n With Nill now publicly confirming that he will look to address the right-defence position, previous discussions with the Canadiens regarding Petry are likely to pick up again.<\/p>\n \t\t![\"avatar\"](\"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nhl\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/01\/1769386333_51_07ba55ead0c73509df880c421e3023e5ac7c7d9f55b4c9b9a5aeeb184bcdf689.png\")
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