LA Kings Free Agent Option: David Perron

Looking at the graph on the right-hand side you can see the sharp decrease in value in the 2023-24 season. The question is whether this past season is the beginning of the end for Perron or if there’s reason to believe he can return to his 2022-23 form when he netted 24 goals and 56 points.

5-on-5 Play

Most of Perron’s drop-off last season came at 5-on-5. Per Natural Stat Trick he had the sixth-lowest amount of shot attempts per 60 minutes and third-lowest shooting percentage of his 17-year career. For his career, he’s managed a 12.8% shooting percentage at 5-on-5. Last season, he finished at just 8.1%.

Perron was less effective in generating scoring chances at 5-on-5 as well. Below from All Three Zones, you’ll see his struggles in 23-24 but was very good just the season prior in 22-23.

Something to consider is he spent most of 22-23 playing with Dylan Larkin , arguably Detroit’s best player. In 23-24, Larkin dropped to Perron’s third most common linemate while spending more time with JT Compher and Andrew Copp.

Power Play

The power play was still a strong suit for Perron last season. His 17 points when on the man advantage were just five fewer than the year before and he had his second-highest ixGF of his career, so he was still heavily involved in the Red Wings power play.

Most of Perron’s time on the power play in Detroit was spent on the left flank, where he utilized his excellent shot.

That said, he’s shown the ability to play the net front and be effective there as well.

If Arvidsson moves on, the LA Kings are left with one right shot forward in their top nine in Alex Laferriere and he saw very little power play time.

How does he fit?

I think putting Perron on a line with fellow Quebec native Pierre-Luc Dubois would get him back with a player capable of setting Perron up for scoring chances. In the tracking I did last season, Dubois led the LA Kings in slot assists and he was among LA’s best at creating scoring chances in the offensive zone per All Three Zones.

In addition, Perron isn’t afraid of the rough stuff. He picked up 55 penalty minutes last season and isn’t going to shy away from sticking up for his teammates (albeit crossing the line in doing so).

If you’re looking for a player who isn’t afraid to mix it up – yet actually able to play in a team’s top-six and on a power play, look no further than Perron.

Contract

But how much will he cost? We know the LA Kings are going to be up against it salary cap-wise. Well, the good news is Perron is coming off of a down year. Let’s take a look at Evolving Hockey’s contract projections for Perron.

At least according to Evolving Hockey, the most likely contract is a one-year deal worth $2.4M. Where do I sign? I’d even be open to the two years at 3.8M but I wouldn’t go any longer than that (and preferably the AAV comes in no higher than 3.5M).

Perron is a highly skilled right-shot winger with plenty of playoff success (61 points in 104 playoff games including 22 points in his last 21 playoff games) and isn’t afraid to mix it up.

We’ve been hearing a lot about how LA was too easy to play against. For a multitude of reasons, Perron doesn’t look like a whole lot of fun to play against.

Main Photo Credit: Gregory Shamus/Getty Images