Abel to Yzerman

Abel to Yzerman

The St. Louis Blues Sure Could Use David Perron Right About Now

11/12/2022 at 11:36am EST

from Ben Frederickson of the St. Louis Post-Dispatch,

Do you remember what Chief said about pending free agent David Perron back then?

I do.

“He’s a highly competitive guy,” Berube said about Perron, perhaps hoping Blues general manager Doug Armstrong was listening. “I would say his competitiveness is up there with anybody, for sure. Just when you watch him on pucks and stuff, just how competitive he is, one-on-one with the puck, there are not many better to be honest with you. He’s a highly competitive person. He wants to do well. He wants the team to do well. More than anything from David that’s what I get out of him. A highly competitive person.”

And yes, the competitiveness was contagious.

“Guys watch people,” Berube added during those comments from last postseason. “Players look at individuals, whether it’s in practice or in games, how they carry themselves, what they do, their work ethic, all that stuff. I think it rubs off.”

But Armstrong didn’t budge.

Often praised for his cold and calculated approach to building a roster, Armstrong turned the page on the beloved Blue, letting Perron walk the free-agent route to Detroit on a totally reasonable two-year, $9.5 million deal the Blues could have matched if they prioritized Perron over, say, defenseman Nick Leddy.

Now Perron is producing for the Red Wings, which should come as no surprise.

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OTC

I wasn't a fan of Perron's play in the first couple of games, but he turned things around pretty quickly. In short order, he's proven himself to be exactly the "highly competitive person" described in Frederickson article. Larkin and Perron together are a great leadership team for the Wings.

As for the Blues, O'Reilly has just two points (both goals) in 12 games without Perron. And the $8,000,000 the Blues will be paying both Kyrou and Thomas starting next year (and for seven years after that) has gotten them six goals total from the two through 12 games.

So I just want to thank Doug Armstrong for Perron, Husso, Sunny and Walman (all for the cost of Leddy, Witkowski and a third-round pick). The Wings wouldn't be what they are right now without those guys.

rwbill

Ill say again Ive been a fan of Yzermans free agent signings this summer.  Perron has jump started a power play that has been comatose for several years.  No just his shot has produced, his no-look pass to win the game the other night was highly polished. 

The Wings have played the season down about 25% of their presumed top 20 players, including three or four of the top six forwards at times. Hope they can get healthy and learn how to play together more consistently.

OTCrwbill

The Wings have played the season down about 25% of their presumed top 20 players


That's that bad part. The "good" part is that if Bert and Vrana and Fabbri were in the lineup, we probably wouldn't have seen Soderblom in Detroit. And now the same is true for Berggren. I'm beyond impressed with how calmly both of them have played (although Berggren's sample size is very small so far).


Hope they can get healthy and learn how to play together more consistently.


They're definitely a "work in progress" as they learn Lalonde's style of play, But at least they seem to be taking it all very seriously. I never got that feeling about Blashill's mythical "process."


For me, the biggest disappointment so far is the play of Copp. He's had one really good game and a bunch of "meh" games. He just doesn't look like he's playing at 100% yet.

NateA

I've been very pleased with Perron. The way he settles the play and slows things down was sorely needed on this roster. And when it comes to play on the boards, there's just no one on the the team that compares. If he's engaged on the wall, he's' coming away with the puck or getting it to a teammate 90% of the time. It's really impressive.

If I'm going to pick a nit, its his one-timer. That thing is wild. Flashbacks of Samuelsson with how often it bangs the glass.

Calquakeold

For me, the biggest disappointment so far is the play of Copp.


For me, it's Zadina playing himself (eventually) off the ice if not the team. I've always liked him as a player but both Lurch and Berggren may be passing him by.

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Welcome to Abel to Yzerman, a Red Wing blog since 1977. No other site on the internet has better-researched, fact-laden and better prepared discussions than A2Y. Re-phrase: we do little research, find facts and stats highly overrated and claim little to no preparation. There are 19 readers of A2Y. No more, no less. All of them, except maybe one, are juvenile in nature. Reminding them of that in the comment section will only encourage them to prove that.

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