The St. Louis Blues have trade David Perron to the Edmonton Oilers for Magnus Paajarvi and a 2014 second-round draft pick.
Perron, a 25-year old left-wing, had 10 goals and 15 assists in 48 games for St. Louis last season. In his career, Perron has 84 goals and 114 assists in 340 games.
Perron has three more years left on his contract at a cap hit of just over $3.8 million. Paajarvi has 26 goals and 32 assists in 163 games with the Oilers. He was drafted 10th overall by Edmonton in 2009.
In Edmonton, Perron will be part of a young core of skilled players along with Taylor Hall, Jordan Eberle, Sam Gagner, Ryan Nugent-Hopkins and Nail Yakupov.
Perron is expected to play left wing with the Oilers and will be counted on to kill penalties and help out on the offensive end, as well. In 340 games with the Blues, he had 84 goals and 114 assists.
"I think that David, he's a dynamic player, and he has an unbelievable skill-set that sometimes takes a little bit of time to get used to playing with ... for his teammates to get to understand his nuances," Blues general manager Doug Armstrong said on a conference call.
Paajarvi had nine goals and seven assists in 42 games for the Oilers last season. He's a restricted free agent, but Armstrong said he liked that the Blues had the young winger's rights for the next four years.
"We view him coming in and competing in our group of nine," Armstrong said. " Our team is built on balance and we think he has an opportunity to come in here and provide an element that we don't have right now."
In Perron, the Oilers get a more polished NHL player than they have in Hall, Eberle, Nugent-Hopkins and Yakupov. MacTavish singled out Perron's willingness to go to the dirty areas to score goals, but acquiring a six-foot playmaker doesn't do anything to add physicality to the mix of skill already in Edmonton.
. The Oilers got more experienced, while the Blues got a player with more potential.
"It's a good deal for both teams, at least that's what (Oilers GM) Craig (MacTavish) and I both hope," Armstrong said. "David's a dynamic offensive player and has had success in the past. We think Magnus is just entering the guts of his career now, and we're looking forward to him being a Blue."
