By Justin Wiggins -
I don’t usually do this sort of thing.
I need to put that out there first.
As the offseason ramps up for the Minnesota Wild, speculation about what the roster could look like next year has begun. Even as half the teams in the NHL remain alive in the first round of the playoffs (even if some just barely), Wild fans and reporters have turned their attention to the 2024-25 season.
Last week in The Athletic, Michael Russo and Joe Smith braised perhaps the most popular sentiment amongst the fan base: The Wild cannot go into next season with Marcus Johansson as their only option to play left wing on the second line. Minnesota gifted him that spot this past year, and he responded with only 30 points.
That’s right, not 30 assists… 30 points.
The good news is that the Wild finally had a few prized prospects make the jump to the NHL toward the end of last year. Marat Khusnutdinov and Liam Ohgren played significant minutes down the stretch when the Wild’s playoff hopes seemed unattainable. They looked the part as NHLers (admittedly, Ohgren more so than Khusnutdinov). But are either of them ready for a full-time role on an NHL team’s top six next year? That’s hard to tell.
Knowing that and Guerin’s style as a roster builder, he would probably prefer to start Ohgren and Khusnutdinov further down the lineup and insulate the second line with an established veteran on a short-term deal. They will have the cap space to do it. Not much, but enough to find a veteran to fulfill a specific role.
Here is where I do the thing that I normally won’t do. When a team needs to add a player to its roster, it must identify the exact role it needs to fill and the appropriate skillset and attributes it needs from that potential player. This way, its pro scouting department can scour the league to identify potential trade targets or free agents to fill the position. It can be dangerous to simply point out a single player this early in the process and say, “That’s the one.”
But here I go: David Perron would be a perfect fit for the Minnesota Wild.
That felt wrong, and yet, it felt so right. It just so happens the Wild could use a player exactly like Perron in their lineup. Achieving his services wouldn’t require any assets, either. It seems he will be hitting free agency this July after recording 17 goals and 30 assists for the Detroit Red Wings.
There are a couple of reasons why Perron would be an excellent fit for Minnesota to play on the left wing of the second line, presumably with Marco Rossi and Mats Zuccarello.
First, his age. Perron will turn 36 this summer, meaning he will likely only be offered a one- or two-year contract. Ohgren and Khustnidinov, and prized prospect Danila Yurov, are likely just a year or two away from being elevated into a more meaningful role in Minnesota. If the Wild signed a veteran this summer, it must be on a short deal.
The fan base has heard about Minnesota's prized prospect pool for a few years. It would be anarchy if the Wild continued to lock up aging veterans to long-term deals well into their 30s, blocking the path for their young talent. Perron fits that timeline.
Not to mention, Perron and Marc-Andre Fleury share an agent, Allan Walsh, which may make a potential signing easier.
But it’s not just his potential contract. Nearly every Minnesotan knows the name David Perron because he has been a Wild killer for almost his entire career. From multiple stops in St. Louis to short stints in Vegas and Detroit, Perron has always seemed to fill the net against the Wild, averaging .35 goals per game. If Perron played an entire 82-game schedule against Minnesota at that rate, he’d have a 27-goal season. His career average over a season is 19.
Simply put, he’s a scorer. If the Wild are going to return with the same top line of Joel Eriksson Ek centering Matt Boldy and Kirill Kaprizov, Zuccarello will need a finisher on his line to maximize his playmaking ability. Perron fits that profile.
Perhaps the biggest impact Perron could have on the Wild is his right-handed shot on the powerplay. We’ve talked about this ad nauseum here. (Okay, it’s been mostly me). However, Minnesota's powerplay lacks any sort of serious right-handed threat opposite Kaprizov. Eriksson Ek has thrived in a net-front role over the past few years. But outside of the Swedish centerman cleaning up garbage in front of opposing goalies, the powerplay is nearly completely reliant on Kaprizov’s magic.
Perron can add an extra dimension to Minnesota’s inconsistent man advantage. His ability to set up as the right-handed one-timer option opposite Kaprizov would be an instant boost. It would look eerily similar to his time with the St. Louis Blues when he worked with another young Russian superstar, Vladimir Tarasenko, on the power play.
Placing Perron opposite Kaprizov, with Eriksson Ek as another threat in the middle of the ice, would add multiple layers to the Wild’s powerplay attack. Pick your poison if you’re an opposing team: Leave space for Kirill to operate, or collapse to the young Russian and open alleys for him to find Eriksson Ek or Perron?
Or do you need to be reminded of what he did to Minnesota in Game 1 of their eventual first-round exit to the Blues two seasons ago? You know, when Perron netted a hat trick, all three goals coming from his signature spot on the powerplay?
Perron might score 20 power-play goals opposite Kaprizov in Minnesota. It’s time to stop dousing our eyes with bleach every time he lights up the Wild. It’s the perfect time for Perron to come to the other side and help the Wild instead of destroying them.
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