The Detroit News’s Ted Kulfan filed a notebook article which focuses on new Red Wings forward David Perron’s remarks made during his introductory press conference:
Perron, at age 34, will be the oldest player on the Wings’ roster. A 2007 first-round pick of the Blues, Perron is only 27 games shy of reaching 1,000 games played in his career.
That experience, plus the championship pedigree, could prove invaluable on a younger roster. Perron joins Robby Fabbri, Oskar Sundqvist, Ville Husso and Jake Walman as former St. Louis teammates now with the Wings. Perron was integral in the Blues’ leadership structure in recent years and feels he can help build a winning culture in Detroit.
“Those are guys I exchanged text messages (with),” Perron said. “Some of us won together there in St. Louis and would like to kind of bring some of that success to Detroit. That’s very important for the organization, the value of the older guys, the type of culture they want to build. I’m going to show up to be one of the guys at the start, but then you are going to try to instill some of the things you’ve learned over the years to help the team out. You see some of the strides that (young St. Louis forwards) Robert Thomas, Jordan Kyrou have taken over the last couple of years. In my mind, hopefully in a little way I’ve helped them become those guys.”
Perron’s impact on the power play was also a factor in Yzerman acquiring the veteran. Eleven of Perron’s 27 goals last season in St. Louis were on the power play. Conversely, the Wings’ power play has been consistently near the bottom of the NHL the last several seasons.
“With the Blues last year we had the best power play in the history of the team. I was part of that solution, it’s something that I want to help,” Perron said. “A team that goes on a good run on the power play usually starts the year pretty well. If you start behind the eight ball and you have to dig yourself out, it’s tough to come back and have a good season.”
Continued (paywall)
