After rumors David Perron would be one of the most overpaid NHL free agents to come out of this year's class, and speculation Perron had spoken to as many as five teams— the Arizona Coyotes, Montreal Canadiens, St. Louis Blues, and New Jersey Devils among them—, Perron signed a reasonable deal with the St. Louis Blues worth $4 million over the next four seasons.
Perron had a great 2017-18 season with the Vegas Golden Knights and insiders were sure he'd cash in on the 66 points in 70 games he scored for the team. In fact, it was expected teams would ignore the fact his production last season was viewed as an outlier instead of the norm and that he could get upwards of $6 million per season. Instead, he signed a four-year deal for two million less.
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There was word Perron wanted to come back to Vegas and that the Golden Knights wanted him to return, but the two sides couldn't come to an agreement on the term and the Knights were only willing to go three years. Perron moved on and found the fourth year with a team he used to call home.
Perron will return to St. Louis where he started his NHL career. What will be interesting to watch is whether or not the Blues have paid attention to how Perron performed when given more offensive responsibility and is surrounded by good goal scorers.
Every year, free agents are rewarded handsomely for hitting the market after a strong season. No one had a better year than Perron based on his past totals. Still, St. Louis was able to land a player who can help offensively without breaking the bank to do so. Perron may revert back to his old totals, but even if he does, he won't be viewed as a massive overpayment as 15 to 20 goals is easily worth $4 million in today's NHL.