Newly Panthers Acquired Signing Jeff Petry Reveals Surprising Message he Received from Matthew Tkachuk

The Florida Panthers acquired a depth defenseman during free agency by inking veteran defenseman Jeff Petry to a one-year, $775,000 deal with possible performance bonuses.

Shortly after signing the deal, Petry received a surprise text from top winger Matthew Tkachuk. Petry was welcomed with a surprising message regarding how Tkachuk is glad Petry is playing for their team now, because he hated playing against him.

That kind of attitude is typical of Petry's place as a grizzled, reliable presence along the blue line, one that clearly made a lasting impression on one of Florida's most tenacious opponents.

Petry, who is 36, spent the last two years with the Detroit Red Wings, posting four goals and 28 points in 117 games.

He is a steady decision-maker and special-teams regular and should slot into a penalty-killing spot in Florida, likely behind Aaron Ekblad, Seth Jones, and Gustav Forsling on the depth chart.

As the Panthers spent the past week handing out extensions to stars like Sam Bennett, Ekblad, Brad Marchand, and Tomas Nosek, as well as signing RFA goalie Daniil Tarasov, Petry was the first UFA signing of the summer for Florida.

The team is now several million over the cap, but they're allowed to be as much as 10% over the cap until Opening Night, so they do have time to make themselves compliant, which means we can expect further moves from them ahead.