When David Perron hits the open market on July 1st, he’ll be one of the more interesting names out there. It was a tale of two seasons for him in 2015-16. He struggled mightily in Pittsburgh before being traded to Anaheim on January 16th in exchange for Carl Hagelin. Once he arrived in Anaheim, he seemed to find his game again and turned into one of the Ducks’ most productive players down the stretch.

Perron had a drastic difference in play between his time in Pittsburgh and Anaheim. In forty-three games with Pittsburgh, he had just 16 points (4 goals, 12 assists) and had just a 4.2% shooting percentage. When you take into consideration who Perron’s linemates, his struggles are all the more surprising. In Pittsburgh, he spent most of his time paired with Evgeni Malkin and Phil Kessel, both of whom are two of the best scorers in the league. The line spent 266 minutes paired together and their numbers were not great. Their goals for per 60 was 2.25 as opposed to a 2.93 goals against per 60 (via Puckalytics). Considering the fire power on that line, it’s hard to fathom that they all struggled together. Perron was traded to Anaheim just over a month after Mike Sullivan took over behind the bench for Mike Johnston.

When Perron arrived in Anaheim, things took a big turn for the better. He was paired Ryan Getzlaf and the duo find instant success even though they had a revolving door of wingers as their third linemate. The duo was nothing short of dominant together. Their goals for per 60 was 2.26 as opposed to a goals against per 60 of 1.35. Not only were they were scoring more often than they were giving up, they were also dominating possession and were averaging 16 more shot attempts for than against per 60 minutes (via Puckalytics). Perron’s numbers did dip when paired away from Getzlaf, but he didn’t spend much time away from him. That’s also to be expected when you’re paired with a player of Getzlaf’s caliber. Playing in Bruce Boudreau’s system also helps compared to Pittsburgh where Perron played under Mike Johnston a majority of his time there, which could be one reason why he never found success with Malkin and Kessel.

Despite Perron’s up tick in his play in Anaheim, he’s been an inconsistent scorer in his time in the NHL. His best season came for Edmonton in 2013-14 where he tallied 28 goals and 29 assists. Since then he’s tallied 29 goals and 48 assists combined. In 13-14, he scored at a rate of 1.91 points per 60. Since then, he’s scored at a rate of 1.51 points per 60, which is the same as players such as Zack Kassian and Jay Beagle. That’s not the greatest company to be in when you’re considered a scorer.

My Take

Perron will definitely be an interesting name when he hits the market July 1st. As mentioned above, he’s been an inconsistent scorer throughout his career, but has shown signs of being able hit the back of the net. He definitely doesn’t have the flash that other players such as Kyle Okposo or a Loui Eriksson, but in the right system, he’s done well.

As far as the Devils taking a shot at Perron, I would lean towards staying away. He’s certainly not going to cost as much an Okposo or Eriksson, but you also don’t want to overpay for him. He’d provide the Devils with some depth, but it’s hard to count on him being a consistent goal-scorer given his track record. If they’re looking to add some depth, they’d most likely be better off bringing Lee Stempniak back, who’s been the better scorer of the two over the last two seasons. There’s just a bit too much risk bringing in Perron and the Devils don’t need to start taking on bad contracts again.