Report: Two coveted defencemen just lost trade value.

  With the NHL trade deadline less than two weeks away, the hottest commodity on the market at the moment are solid defencemen. Unfortunately, it appears that two of the best D-men on the market may have lost some trade value. Both Alexei Emelin of the Montreal Canadiens and Jeff Petry of the Edmonton Oilers were injured in each of their Wednesday night games. Petry suffered a rib injury after being hit by an Adam McQuaid shot in the second period of the Oilers tilt with the Boston Bruins. Petry, who is set to become an unrestricted free-agent after this season, was rumored to be heading out of Edmonton prior to the March 2 trade deadline. The 27-year-old has 15 points in 57 games this season while averaging 21:11 in ice time a night. He is highly coveted because many teams believe he would fit in easily and produce immediate results. A long term injury to Petry effectively handcuffs the Oilers at the deadline. Emelin was injured a mere 20 seconds into the Canadiens game versus the Ottawa Senators. The defenseman attempted to hit Sens’ forward Mark Stone and crashed heavily into the boards in front of the Montreal bench. He left the game left the game immediately. The club is calling it an upper body injury. Emelin has 13 points and a plus-10 rating in 54 games this season while averaging 19:57 in ice time. Emelin and fellow Hab Lars Eller are reportedly being dangled by GM Marc Bergevin and he has actively been trying to strike a deal for one or both players. By the looks of this injury he may have lost his biggest bargaining chip at the worst possible time. It looks like the slim market for blueliners just got slimmer.