The team was forced to keep rookie Leon Draisaitl and play journeyman Marco Arcobello as the organization's 2nd and 3rd line centers, respectively, because of its lack of depth down the middle. Now that the team has lost seven games in a row and has fell out of playoff contention, once again, general management Craig MacTavish is finally looking to shake things up.
According to Sportsnet's Elliotte Friedman, the Canadiens have been interested in David Perron and GM Marc Bergevin is not afraid to make a move as shown by his latest acquisitions of Sergei Gonchar and Bryan Allen.
With the excess of defensemen in Montreal as well as the possibility of trading one of the team's top-three pivots to make room for Galchenyuk at center, it would make sense that the Habs call the Oilers about Perron.
One of the names currently being mentioned as a possibility for the Oilers, other than Artem Anisimov and Patrick Berglund, is diminutive center David Desharnais as mentioned by Jim Matheson of the Edmonton Journal.
Off to a very slow start for a first-line pivot, Desharnais has only 2 goals and 9 assists for 11 points in 23 games, posting a good +9 rating along the way. While DD has improved at the dot, winning 197 of the 363 (54.3%) draws he has taken so far, the Saint-Apollinaire native has only 22 shots this year, which is less than a single shot per game.
As for Perron, he only has 2 goals and 8 helpers for 10 points in 22 games for a struggling team. The good side about him is that he is only one year removed from a successful season during which he potted 28 goals and 29 assists for 57 points in 78 contests. A left-winger who shoots right, Perron is also bigger than Desharnais (6'0'', 200-lb vs. 5'7'', 175-lb), which is not a minor detail when it's playoff time.
If we look at some advanced stats, Perron has a Corsi For % of 54.0, which is pretty good with a bad team like the Oilers. He has also been extremely unlucky as his low PDO of 96.5 and his -11 plus/minus rating can be easily explained by the poor goaltending of the Oilers this season, which is ranked last in the NHL with a putrid .885 save percentage. Perron is also shooting a paltry 3.8% (2 goals on 52 shots), while his career average is 12.8%; as a result, expect a improvement in this department, which means the goals should start coming very soon.
At the other end of the spectrum, Desharnais has been very lucky with a high PDO of 105.7 and a +9 plus/minus differential that is helped by the Canadiens' solid save percentage of .919 this year. His Corsi For % of 52.1 ranks him fourth on the team, but he's trailing his favorite line-mate Max Pacioretty by seven points, despite spending most of his ice time with him.
Financially, Perron's cap hit is $3.812,500 for the next two campaigns, making him a free agent at the end of the 2015-16 season at the ripe age of 28. As for the 28-year-old Desharnais, who is earning $3.5 million this season, he will still have two years left on his current contract after the season.
Such a move would allow the Bleu Blanc Rouge to shift Alex Galchenyuk back to his natural position at center and would give the team more depth at left wing after Max Pacioretty.
The Canadiens could sweeten the deal by trading a second-tier prospect like Dalton Thrower or a middle-round pick to help the Oilers rebuild their ever-struggling franchise.
Potential line combinations with Perron:
Pacioretty-Galchenyuk-Gallagher
Perron-Plekanec-Parenteau
Sekac-Eller-Prust
Bournival-Malhotra-Weise
Extras: Bowman, Tangradi
Being the easiest center to replace internally, David Desharnais would be the current Habs' player that most fans would want to trade first in the event Marc Bergevin makes another move up front.
Would you make that trade, or would you rather send another forward to land Perron?
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Follow me on Twitter at @FredPoulin98.
4 comments:
done deal!
Wishful thinking
Be great. Desharnais, Emelin and Gilbert and get Perron and Yakupov as well to play with Galy.
Then Tinordi and Beuileiu can play full time D like they were promised
send mt jjd dd for perron they need coaching too
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