Preds’ Perreault thriving after starting on try-out basis
Five teams offered the 11-year veteran the opportunity to come to training camp on a tryout basis in a faster, younger league playing with new rules after the yearlong lockout. Perreault chose to try his luck with the Predators.
Not only did he win a contract, he has played each of the first 58 games for a team currently fourth in the Western Conference, and he ranks third on the Predators in scoring with 48 points.
“Lots of teams were wondering about, with the new NHL, how I would fit,” Perreault said Monday. “I think in my case it’s better with the new rules.”
The Predators couldn’t be happier even though coach Barry Trotz said he also wasn’t sure how the 34-year-old Perreault would fare with the changes.
“But he thinks the game so well, and you don’t have to skate as well if you’re a real intelligent player. And we found out he was a real intelligent player, and he’s been quite productive to this point. He’s probably exceeded any expectations that we have,” Trotz said.
Perreault went into the Olympic break with 12 points in his last eight games, and he has nine multipoint games this season, including three two-goal games. He’s already notched his sixth season with at least 20 goals.
He leads the NHL among players with 300 or more draws with a winning percentage of approximately 62 percent on face-offs.
None of this production is that surprising because he had 407 points in 671 career games with Toronto, Los Angeles and Montreal before this season, and he had 31 points in 69 games with Montreal before the lockout.
He spent the lockout playing in a four-on-four tour that wrapped up before Christmas 2004. With his wife expecting another child, he didn’t join the exodus of NHL players to Europe, choosing to stay home with his family.
When summer and a new labor deal arrived, Perreault found himself without a contract or a team. Knowing that Nashville had kept the same general manager and coach since opening as an expansion franchise in 1998 helped lure him.
“If I would play well, they would give me a fair chance, and that’s what they did,” he said.
Scott Walker, one of three Predators left from the expansion draft, said Perreault handled the situation well.
“That goes to show he’s been around a long time. He knows how to handle adversity … and when he didn’t have a contract, he just came in and did the right things and away you go,” Walker said.
Seven-time All-Star Paul Kariya, who chose to sign with the Predators last August as a free agent, said it was surprising to see Perreault without a deal even with older players watching their careers end abruptly.
“The thing you can never replace is hockey intelligence, and he’s one of the smartest players I’ve ever played with. When you see the game like that and you put yourself in the right spot, if there is any drop in skating or speed, you can make it up by putting yourself in the right place,” Kariya said.
“In my mind, he’s playing better than he’s ever played.”
The Predators also have gained in the locker room where six players are 25 or younger, and he will provide some much-needed experience in the postseason. Trotz said Perreault has provided a breath of fresh air with his professionalism.
“He’s a real professional that’s a good human being and helps as a great teammate. When you encompass all those things, he’s a real quality player but more so quality person,” Trotz said.