How Steve Yzerman pulled off 2 big trades without much cost for Detroi…

In a little more than a month, general manager Steve Yzerman pulled off two trades that project to significantly improve the Detroit Red Wings.

And he did it without much of a cost to the team.

This week’s acquisition of Jeff Petry, a right-shot defenseman whose history includes power play success, comes after July’s trade for Alex DeBrincat, a 40-goal scorer. DeBrincat, 25, and Petry, 35, both have resumes that indicate they can help end what has become a seven-year playoff drought for their hometown team.

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Petry, an Ann Arbor native who grew up in Farmington Hills, was acquired by sending Gustav Lindstrom and a conditional 2025 fourth-round pick to the Montreal Canadiens. Lindstrom, 24, was drafted 38th overall in 2017. He appeared in a career-high 63 games in 2021-22, but coach Derek Lalonde’s arrival last summer left Lindstrom on the outside looking in, and he played in just 36 games this past season. He didn’t appear to have much of a future with the team beyond as a depth player.

In Petry, the Wings gain a 6-foot-3, 209-pound veteran of 864 NHL games, who has posted in the double-digits in assists eight straight seasons. He had a career-high 23 power play points in 2017-18 as a member of the Canadiens. And with the Canadiens retaining 50% of Petry’s contract (which runs 2024-25 with a $6.25 million salary cap hit) and the Pittsburgh Penguins also retaining a chunk, the cap hit for the Wings over the next two seasons is $2,343,750.

Petry shores up the right side of the defense, which lost Filip Hronek via trade back in March. Yzerman brought in right-shot Justin Holl via free agency, but Holl doesn’t have Petry’s offensive skill set.

Yzerman’s summer blockbuster trade happened July 9, when he acquired…