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The Pittsburgh Penguins quest for more skill wingers to play with Sidney Crosby and Evgeni Malkin got another chapter today. From Marian Hossa to Bill Guerin to Chris Kunitz to Alex Ponikarovsky to James Neal to Patric Hornqvist to now David Perron the Penguins have long chased established talent via trade to play with their star centers. Some have worked, some have not.
So what's the deal with Perron? He's played his whole career in the Western Conference between St. Louis and Edmonton, so we'll give you some details about his game.
Career stats
Some really nice box cars the past couple of years. Also worth noticing he missed a lot of time in 2010 and 2011 with concussion but has seemed to put that behind him playing the entire 48 games in the 2013 lockout season and only missing a few games in 2013 and 2014.
Player synopsis
Via The Hockey News:
| Assets: | Is a great dangler with the puck and very creative. Can play on either side of center and excels in open space. Gritty and full of character, he's both a finisher and an excellent playmaker. |
| Flaws: | Injuries are a problem here, including concussion issues. Must also continue to work on his positioning and defensive-zone coverage. Should shoot more. More strength would also serve him well. |
| Career Potential: | Ultra-skilled scoring winger, when healthy. |
Linemates
Per stats.hockeyanalysis Perron's most commone linemates this season have been Mark Arcobello, Ted Purcell and Leon Draisatail.
Youtube highlight reel
His goals last season:
GIF's
I liked this goal back from his days as a St. Louis Blues. Shows great puck control,. a slick deke and the ability to create all on his own.
And going backhand shelf on Jonathan Quick:
Other side's outlook
Yeah, as you might expect Edmonton fans are really unhappy about this trade. Hard to blame them. From Copper n Blue:
To put it bluntly, this trade is a kick in the teeth. Yeah, Perron leaving was sort of given, but considering he was pretty much bang on in his comments (and many in the organization have echoed similar things recently), it was hoped that maybe this time would be different.
For a team who has been "too easy to play against" in recent years, Perron was the opposite. Not only did he have some skill, he was an absolute pest that every other team hated to play against. He was signed for another year at a relatively modest $3.812 mil cap hit, and is flush in the middle of the prime of his career.
The return is pretty dull too. One would hope the Oilers could have maybe gotten a younger player who was NHL ready, but instead they get a pick which is almost guaranteed to be in the latter third of the first round
Well, unfortunate for them, but positive for us! Welcome to Pittsburgh, David!