The Athletic’s Thomas Drance and Harman Dayal posted an article which discusses a slate of 10 “value buy” free agents, and they include Red Wings forward David Perron on their list…
Second-line winger
Name Brand Target (projected contract): Tyler Toffoli (3 years, $6.1 million)
Value Buy Target (projected contract): David Perron (1 year, $2.4 million)Tyler Toffoli is one of the smartest offensive wingers in the sport.
What he might lack in foot speed, Toffoli makes up for with clever finishing, sneaky passing ability and a still extant ability to win battles and help his team control play five-on-five. He’s also a genuine power-play weapon, adept at the net front and has a long history of solid playoff performances, even if it didn’t go well for him in the postseason as a rental player with the Winnipeg Jets this spring.
In terms of production, Toffoli is a high-end second-line rate scorer five-on-five. And although he’s getting into his mid-30s now, is still a solid bet, even on a high value unrestricted free agent contract, to add punch to a good team’s top six.
David Perron is four years older and is unlikely to command as significant a contract or nearly as much term as Toffoli will. Where Toffoli is a high-end second-line rate scorer, Perron is a more standard second-line point producer, although he absolutely can still produce offense at a legitimate top-six level.
Like Toffoli, Perron’s foot speed has diminished with age. Perron, however, is still an absolute beast beneath the hashmarks and plays a small area game down low as well as anyone in the league.
Because of the 35-plus contract rules, the market may hesitate to give Perron the sort of term he probably should warrant coming off a near 50-point season with the Detroit Red Wings. What rival suitors may see as a concern, a discerning buyer should view as an opportunity. Perron still has the intelligence and heavy game to help good teams win games in a second-line role.
Continued, with Shayne Gostisbehere used as a “Name Brand Target”; I get the feeling that Perron might actually test the market. There has been chatter about a hometown reunion with the Canadiens, joining Craig Berube in Toronto, and several other suggestions that Perron might get a bigger payday somewhere other than Detroit.
It’s just a gut feeling, but, combined with the increase in penalties last season due to his declining foot speed (he had 55 minutes in penalties last year, which is about average, but he also took whole lot more obstruction and stick fouls), his increasing age has me wondering whether the Red Wings will be willing to give Perron the kind of dollars and term that a 17-goal, 47-point season might command during the “Free Agent Frenzy” (TM and Copyright TSN).
I hope he stays. He’s vocal and positive on the bench and in the room, he provides a wee bit of snarl and “piss and vinegar,” and he can still score (albeit a bit streakily). But Perron might be looking at his last career payday at 36 years of age, and I don’t know whether that payday will come in Detroit.
