Penguins defenseman Jeff Petry likes his new surroundings

Jeff Petry still is getting used to his new surroundings.

For instance, after a morning skate Tuesday at PPG Paints Arena, there was a plastic bag of new equipment that had yet to be opened next to his stall in the dressing room.

On the ice, Petry still is trying to figure out some of the schematics of the Pittsburgh Penguins system and getting used to a new defensive partner in Marcus Pettersson.

But the 34-year-old right-handed defenseman, who was arguably the Penguins’ most prominent addition this offseason, has a pretty firm grasp as to why he is here.

“Obviously, going into a season, I think everybody has one goal,” Petry said. “But I’ve noticed the standard here, just walking in, is higher. It’s not just to have a good regular season, it’s not just to make the playoffs. They put a high standard up to win the Stanley Cup. That’s exciting for a guy like myself who’s come close but has never won it.”

Penguins management was very excited about the prospect of Petry joining the Penguins this past summer. That’s why general manager Ron Hextall and company moved heaven and earth — or at least former defensemen John Marino and Mike Matheson off the roster — to create salary cap and roster space to add the 12-year veteran via a trade with the Montreal Canadiens in July.

Last season, Petry appeared in 68 games and scored 27 points (six goals, 21 assists) while averaging 22 minutes, 7 seconds of ice time per contest.

“He has a quiet confidence, the way he carries himself,” Penguins coach Mike Sullivan said. “He’s a true professional. He works really hard. You can see his presence on the ice. He’s getting better every day. He’s trying to familiarize himself with how we play. We’re having a lot of conversations with him behind the scenes with respect to that stuff. He’s played a lot of games in this league. He’s a very good defenseman on both sides of the puck. We’re real excited about what he can bring to this group.”

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For the time being, Sullivan and his staff seem intent on grouping Petry with the left-handed Pettersson on the team’s second defensive pairing.

“He’s been here for a while,” Petry said of Pettersson. “He’s played this system. He knows what to do, where to be. So he’s a nice guy to have alongside that you can bounce things off of, coming off the ice or in practices. He’s been here, and he knows the answers. It’s nice to have a guy that’s played in this system to communicate with.”

What makes them a potentially stout duo, at least on paper?

“Marcus is a mobile guy, he’s got a long reach, makes good outlet passes, has the ability to help us on the offense,” Sullivan said. “Jeff is a guy that is an elite defenseman. He has the ability to help us on both sides of the puck. Jeff is big and strong. He’s going to help us at our net-front on the defensive side. But we’re not compromising anything from a transition standpoint or a skill or a speed standpoint with respect to that. We’ve played those guys intentionally to see if that combination could potentially work for us. We’re just trying to give them some time to develop some chemistry.”

During Tuesday’s 6-2 preseason home loss to the Detroit Red Wings, Petry offered some mixed results in his first game with the Penguins. He logged 21 minutes, 7 seconds of ice time on 22 shifts and recorded two shots on seven attempts.

Though Petry was on the ice for each of the Penguins’ goals, he appeared to be flat-footed in the second period on Detroit’s third goal by forward Elmer Soderblom.

Additionally, he took a roughing penalty for punching forward Jonatan Berggren in the back of the head later in the period.

After the contest, he confessed there is plenty of room for refinement.

“There was some good, some bad,” Petry said. “It’s nice to be able to work the system in a game situation and kind of learn from that. What works, what I need to improve on to pick up the systems as quickly as possible.”

A second-round pick (No. 45 overall) in 2006, Petry has carved out a lengthy career that began with the Edmonton Oilers in the 2010-11 season. How has he been able to maintain his game in a league that has only gotten faster and younger in the past decade-plus?

“If you look at my career, I kind of started to hit my peak a little bit later on,” Petry said. “I’ve had the better part of my career later on. Being able to skate, that’s always been one of my strongest assets. That’s what you need in the game now. There’s so much speed and skill that you’ve got to be able to skate. That has a lot to do with it, I guess my ability to get up and down the ice.”

Petry was one of the more established players on the Canadiens in recent years and was a key contributor when Montreal reached the Stanley Cup Final in 2021, his only appearance in the league’s championship series. But because of the logistical issues of traveling to Canada for his family during the pandemic in recent years, the Michigan native requested a trade last season.

“We obviously all went through our challenges over the last couple of years,” Petry said. “It was difficult for my family and my wife’s family to get up to Montreal with the various restrictions and the border being closed. Now, we’re a 4 1/2-hour drive away from home. My parents are excited. They’ll be able to see a lot more games live.”

And from Petry’s vantage point, he already likes what he sees as a member of the Penguins.

“To come into a room where you have lots of guys that have been there and won it and they all want to do it again,” Petry said. “That’s the exciting part about coming to this team.”

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