How good can David Perron be?
THE WATERCOOLER
QUESTION: David Perron was seemingly all over the ice Wednesday night, from battling in the corners to popping the puck in the net. Long term, what kind of player do you see Perron becoming? Does he have the potential to be elite, will he simply be a nice, complimentary player or will his inconsistency ultimately lead to him being labeled an underachiever?
JEREMY RUTHERFORD
I don’t know if Perron will be an elite scorer in the NHL, but in my view, he will be a very productive offensive player before it’s all said and done. Outside of Andy McDonald, Perron may be the Blues’ most skilled forward. The one thing McDonald has on him is experience.
Because he’s not established, Perron has played at times this season like he doesn’t want to make a mistake. Lately, playing on the defensive stopper line, he has looked much better, probably because he’s playing looser.
In the long run, Perron will be a top-six forward who will be equally gifted at scoring and passing. But he needs to use his teammates more and not be afraid to make a mistake.
KEVIN WHEELER (Host of “Sports Open Line” on KMOX)
I don’t think Perron is going to be an elite player. The “elite” tag is for guys like Evgeni Malkin, Sidney Crosby, Alex Ovechkin, Henrik Zetterberg and others like that. Perron is not going to be that kind of player. That said, I think he can be a 30+ goal scorer someday and eventually reach the 70-80 point total. I wouldn’t be shocked, given his skill level and the fact that he’s still just 21, if he had a 40-goal season or two and a few All-Star appearances before it’s all said and done. He’ll be a Top 6 forward, a power play guy and he’ll provide plenty of highlight reel material because of his creativity. I just can’t go as far as to say he’ll be an elite player.
ROGER HENSLEY
I think Perron is insanely talented and has the highest upside of any player on this Blues squad. I also think Perron has been maddeningly inconsistent at times, which makes it difficult for me to figure out what kind of player he’ll actually end up becoming. Given, he’s only 21, so some inconsistency should be expected.
All that said, I think that Perron has the potential to ultimately be a 35- or 40-goal scorer perenially when he reaches his prime years … and given his professional start at an early age, that should come sooner rather than later and perhaps expand a few years longer than some. But the key word there is still “potential.”
This season I see Perron starting to do more things than he has in the past. I see the willingness to get his hands dirty in the corners. I see him (now that he put on almost 20 pounds in the offseason) looking for folks to hit on the ice. And I see a guy who seems to keep his head up more, which puts him more in the flow of the game with the rest of his teammates — which in turn opens up passing, both sending and receiving the puck.
But what ultimately makes Perron special are the things he can do when he has that puck on his stick. Full speed, body moving one direction while his stick and puck move the other … it’s a sight to behold when he’s on top of his game. For him to become that 35- to 40-goal scorer, Blues fans will need to see THAT David Perron more consistently on a nightly basis.
He will definitely be GREAT!!! He needs more ice time.