Jeff Petry is without a doubt our best defense prospect as far as I'm concerned. I have long worried that he may end up pulling a Blake Wheeler and complete school and then become an UFA. So I am not sad to see him skip his Senior season if he is almost a lock to sign as it has been reported by some members of the media. Losing guys like Nash and Petry would be huge blows in terms of the Oilers rebuilding process.
Petry is our best defense prospect, and while he isn't a perfect defenseman, he has just about everything that you could ask of one. Speed, size, strength, a big shot, the ability to lug the puck up ice, and best of all, he's willing to sign with the lowly Oilers. The Oilers lacked a 1st round pick in '06 as they traded away that pick for Dwayne Roloson, but they got a 1st round talent in Petry.
Looking forward, a potential top 4 of Whitney-Gilbert and Smid-Petry will be a solid group in a few years time. Add in Chorney and Peckham as the bottom pairing, and while we have no superstar defenseman, we have 5 solid d-men that can move the puck and a human wrecking ball. Not too shabby going forward, especially if the lack of star power on the blueline is more than made up for up front.
Prior to the Oilers drafting Magnus Paajarvi-Svensson, Jeff Petry was my #1 rated prospect, yes even over Jordan Eberle and yes even though he had a tough '08-09 season. While Eberle has since gone on to become a national hero again at the WJC's and is off to a gaudy start to his '09-10 AHL season, I still place Petry at or near that level of upside. Petry's biggest weakness is still his lateral movement, he really needs to work hard on that in the off season, if he can correct that flaw, there's a good chance that we'll see him on the Oilers next season. MPS, Eberle, Petry, and hopefully soon Hall or Seguin. It's nice to see some of the foundation for the future coming together before our eyes.
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