As we continue our looks at potential trade deadline acquisitions, we come across a guy who's a bit of a natural fit for the Wings, but who is also questionably the mere "depth acquisition" that Ken Holland has been saying recently he'll likely shy away from. Jeff Petry of the Edmonton Oilers is an interesting case of a guy who ticks off a lot of the things Detroit is looking for without really being a no-brainer.

Player Bio:

Birth Date: December 9, 1987 (27 years old)

Place of Birth: ---------- ***Ann Arbor, MI*** ---------------

Shoots: Right

Experience: 4 years

Drafted: Drafted by Edmonton in 2006, 45th overall

Season Tm GP G A PTS +/- PIM 2010-11 EDM 35 1 4 5 -12 10 2011-12 EDM 73 2 23 25 -7 26 2012-13 EDM 48 3 9 12 1 29 2013-14 EDM 80 7 10 17 -22 42 2014-15 EDM 51 4 7 11 -23 26

Petry is a 6'3" 198-pound defenseman. That puts him a bit on the light side for his frame (although he outweighs the 6'3" Danny DeKeyser by the amount of a child's bowling ball, so that's something). He's set to become an unrestrited free agent this summer and has a $3.075M cap hit.

The Pros and Cons:

Petry is a capable top-four defenseman who is fairly solid-but-quiet in his own zone. He's not known for putting up high points totals, but he moves the puck decently well. Petry has consistently taken on tougher assignments in Edmonton and, while his possession numbers match the team he's been on pretty well, he's performed decently under the comparative metrics.

The other benefit of this pending UFA is that the price for him should be fairly reasonable compared to other players and the rental risk is assumed to be lower for a guy who comes from Ann Arbor. While guys like Andrej Sekera, Mike Green, and Cody Franson look more to be true rentals, a trade for Petry could end up being more a tryout for him sticking around in the future than the other way around.

Price is something that could also be attractive. Petry doesn't have the clout of many of the other guys on the market. While Toronto is said to be looking for a 2nd and a prospect for Franson, the feeling is that Edmonton wants a warm body for Petry. Here's Jim Matheson on it from late last week.

If EDM does trade UFA Petry they have to get somebody else's developed younger D-man, not draft pick.#oilers. — Jim Matheson (@NHLbyMatty) February 8, 2015

It was reported that prior to the season, the Oilers had asked for Darren Helm in return for Petry. I've wavered a few times on whether I'd have been comfortable making that trade, but as of right now, I don't think that's acceptable. Edmonton is not dealing from a position of strength and it's debatable whether Petry improves the Red Wings' defense enough to make up for the loss of what Darren Helm has been providing on a line with Pavel Datsyuk and Tomas Tatar.

Conclusion:

If Edmonton wants a developed defenseman for Jeff Petry, the Red Wings have a couple they could part with. Jakub Kindl is in bad need of a change of scenery and he's signed for another two years at a reasonable cap hit. I think adding a conditional mid-to-late pick (based on whether Petry re-signs) should be enough to get this deal done. I think this is a deal that makes sense for both sides. Edmonton would almost certainly ask for a better return than that, but I think additional value added to the Wings' side would require the same from Edmonton.