Five Questions The St. Louis Blues Must Answer This Preseason
By Todd Panula
What Can We Expect From David Perron?
This one ties a little into the best position for each player, but David Perron is almost his own animal. He’s a very skilled player, but you can’t really know what to expect.
As I just said, it’s hard to know what to expect in a full season from Perron, so it will be difficult to know given one preseason. He hasn’t scored 20 goals since 2013-14.
Perron only managed four goals in 43 games with an offensive team like the Pittsburgh Penguins. He then came alive at the end of the season with Anaheim.
His best seasons were actually in St. Louis – his highest goal output was 28 in Edmonton. The Blues are clearly hoping the city will revive his offensive abilities.
Where he fits in will likely dictate what the team can expect of him. If you think he fits with the top line players, he had better produce something in the neighborhood of 20-25 goals.
If Perron is more of a third line player, then perhaps expectations should be tempered. 15 goals or so is more likely given that scenario.
A 20 goal season or even up near 30 would be absolutely wonderful. Perron is capable of it, but he’s at the age where it seems unlikely since we haven’t seen that yet before.
Given the right circumstances, he could be a good scorer. The Blues can’t force that though. They need to decide where he fits in the lineup and his production will fall in place after that.