Oilers Dump Perron, Ship Him to Penguins

		2015 Season				Cap Hit
To Pittsburgh	POS	GP	G	A	P	2015	2016
David Perron	F	38	5	14	19	$3.8 million	1 year/$3.8 million
---
To Edmonton	POS	GP	G	A	P	2015	2016
Rob Klinkhammer	F	29	4	2	6	$625,000	UFA
2015 1st Round Draft Pick

Happy New Year, David Perron... there's a whole new outlook on the rest of your season, as you've been dealt to Pittsburgh to play with some of the best pivots in the game.

The Pittsburgh Penguins paid a pretty hefty price to get another scoring winger on their side, sending a 1st round pick and a roster player, Rob Klinkhammer, to Edmonton, but with their injury situation, the Pens needed to improve up front, in order to stay in the Eastern Conference races.

Perron is historically a goal scorer, who has seen some good years between St. Louis and Edmonton, although he has seen some injury troubles, ever since a very short 2011, where he had only played 10 games.

The 26-year old Quebec native had his best season last year with the Oilers, picking up 57 points in 78 games and he ranked 73rd overall in pool scoring.  This season, things haven't been nearly as good, having only 19 points in 38 games, ranking 182nd overall in scoring, but this move should give him ample opportunity to move up in the ranks.

With Patric Hornqvist and Blake Comeau currently on the Injured Reserve in Pittsburgh, there was room for another winger to come in and take a top six spot with either Sidney Crosby or Evgeni Malkin and it looks like they've found their man (in theory).

Going the other way, non-pool grinding forward Klinkhammer, who has already moved from Arizona to Pittsburgh this season, will be a short-term roster player, as he'll be an unrestricted free agent in July and doesn't necessarily have the chops to be a part of a massive franchise retooling.  He'll give the Oilers some reasonable minutes, while not dragging down the bottom line in cap hits or salary numbers.

The real piece of the puzzle that the Oilers will love is another 1st round pick, which could stretch anywhere outside of the lottery, but more likely closer to the end, given the power that Pittsburgh possesses, especially when it comes to playoff time.  Nevertheless, there are a lot of experts saying that the 2015 Entry Draft will be a good one, so another pick up high will go a long way to filling the cupboards again in Edmonton.

With the Oilers already out of the Western Conference playoff consideration, they have agreed to start the process early with the retooling, which makes you wonder if there are any more pieces ready to move.

Perron, the only pool player in the move, belongs to Stacey C., who gets a vast improvement in scoring potential, but he does lose a beloved Oilers jersey from his lineup.  I think the trade off is pretty good for him though.  Stacey sits 3 points from moving up a spot to 15th and is 19 points out of the top 10, before Friday night's games.  It is unclear whether or not Perron will make it to Pittsburgh on time for the Pens' game against Tampa or whether he'll join the team in Montreal for Saturday's game.  Either way, it sounds like Stacey may be on the move up in a more expedited fashion.