In one of the most unpredictable signings of the entire free agency period, David Perron has signed with the Ottawa Senators. After the initial shock, it is actually one of the most ideal signings the Senators could have made.
Perron, who is 36 years old, is coming off of a 17-goal, 47-point season with the Detroit Red Wings. He took a bit of a step back offensively, but part of that was due to the Red Wings promoting some youth into higher spots in the lineup as the season went on. Over the past decade, Perron has consistently been around 20 goals and 55-plus points per season, and even as high as 27 goals in 2021-22.
Perron Brings Leadership & Grit
Since becoming general manager of the Senators, Steve Staios has mentioned multiple times that he is looking for high-quality veterans to join the group and help the young players take the next step. Rebuilding and having an excess of young talent is great, but if they don’t have enough role models around, it is hard for them to truly develop into star players.
Now, Perron may not be the needle-mover for the young core to all become superstars, but he will bring a healthy balance to the team and add another element of leadership that Claude Giroux brought when signing as a free agent. These signings are crucial, especially for a team that has missed the playoffs every year since 2017.
Perron brings a lot more than leadership though. On top of his consistent offence, he is a hard player to play against. Among all forwards on the Red Wings last season, he finished third in hits with 111, and fifth in shots with 151. Doing that while averaging less than 16 minutes per night is impressive. Those stats would have seen Perron finish fifth in both hits and shots on the Senators in 2023-24.
One thing that is true about Perron is that he isn’t afraid to stand up for his teammates, and Senators fans have seen that first-hand as he cross-checked Artem Zub in the head after seeing his captain motionless on the ice, receiving a six-game suspension. Now of course, Zub wasn’t part of the altercation that led to Dylan Larkin’s injury, but he was the one close by, and Perron took exception, thinking it was indeed Zub involved. Things happen, Perron was punished, and there shouldn’t be any bad blood between the two now as teammates.
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That kind of reaction was certainly over the top but was an example of his willingness to stand up for a teammate. Perron stated in a TSN1200 interview that he “owes Zub a couple of dinners” for the misunderstanding.
Connection to Tkachuks Already
Along with stating that he owes Zub some form of repayment, Perron noted that he used to play mini-sticks with an eight-year-old Brady Tkachuk while playing on the St. Louis Blues with Keith Tkachuk. With Brady now being Perron’s captain, the relationship goes back a significant amount, and Perron has three kids now, who are between two and nine years old. There is a good chance that Tkachuk fills in that role with those kids that Perron played for him when he was young.
Perron and Tkachuk play a similar game. Of course, Tkachuk has the higher offensive upside at this point, but being able to spread out the skilled players who can play a physical game and make life difficult for the opposition was a goal of Staios, and he made a great decision landing on Perron. After moving on from Parker Kelly and Mark Kastelic, the Senators needed a bit more bite in the lineup. On top of that, the goal is to have Tkachuk fighting less, and with those other two out the door, Perron could be one of the players to step up when need be.
The expectation is that Perron will play on the left wing of the second or third line, and depending on the plan for Josh Norris and his shoulder injuries, he could move to the wing too. The left-wing depth of Tkachuk, Perron, potentially Norris, Michael Amadio, and Noah Gregor is some of the best the Senators have seen in a number of years, and with Tim Stutzle, Shane Pinto, and Ridly Greig as the top three centermen, the forward depth can bring a nice balance to that.
The balance and positional need that Perron brings to the lineup brings the Senators close to contending for the playoffs, which is a must for the 2024-25 season. The core group of players has been around long enough that the responsibility is in their hands, and Staios has done a good job of surrounding them with quality depth pieces, a starting goaltender, and a new head coach.