Habs GM Kent Hughes on potentially trading Jeff Petry.

The Montreal Canadiens and veteran defenseman Jeff Petry are at a crossroads, one that many suspect will lead to Petry being moved to a new team sooner rather than later. There was a belief that such a move could be made ahead of the National Hockey League's trade deadline last Monday, but in spite of the fact that the deadline having come and gone Petry remains a part of the Canadiens roster.

Last week it was also announced by the Canadiens that Petry would be out "indefinitely" due to injury, leading to speculation that he could be shut down for what remains of the regular season. This would in theory allow the Canadiens to work out a trade in the offseason, avoiding any potential conflict that could arise from Petry being unhappy as a member of the Canadiens roster.

Recently Montreal Canadiens general manager Kent Hughes gave an interview to TSN's Pierre LeBrun and Glenn Schiiler and he was asked about the status of a Petry trade. Hughes began by revealing that there had been interest in Petry leading up to the deadline, while also hinting at the potential reasons for why a trade wasn't consummated.

"We had conversations with a group of teams," said Hughes during the interview. "I think, as you know Pierre, when you are looking at the trade deadline most of the teams looking to acquire players are very close to the cap. Acquiring a contract of multiple years at that kind of a number becomes a little bit more of a challenge."

That would appear to indicate that the Canadiens are still looking to trade Petry, and Hughes would go on to indicate that he believes moving Petry's contract would be easier to do during the offseason than prior to the NHL's trade deadline.

"It's probably more likely an offseason move than a trade deadline move," admitted Hughes. "But we did have conversations but there was one in particular that we thought might materialize and make sense for both clubs."

It will be interesting to see if that conversation will be picked up again in the offseason when, in theory, both teams will have more cap flexibility.