As David Perron departs the St. Louis Blues for the second time in his career, he leaves with some rather interesting comments about his performance in the 2016-17 season. Perron was pretty solid in the regular season, but he fell off the map with a disastrous effort in the playoffs. What was behind Perron’s struggles? One reason might be Vladimir Sobotka.
Perron spoke with STLToday.com and said that when the Blues brought Sobotka back into the mix, it altered things and may have caused his game to slip.
“When (Sobotka) came back, it changed things a little bit for me in the playoffs as far as role and ice time. I played (penalty kill) all year, power play, last minute on both sides. Kind of all that went away, but I didn’t care because all I wanted to do was win. I think mentally it was tough for me to overcome that, but I know how much they value (Sobotka), so when they brought him back, it changed my role a little bit and my game slipped a little bit, too, and it didn’t help.”
While some fans may point to Perron citing an excuse, he does make a good point. The Blues immediately inserted Sobotka into several roles and that pushed Perron into roles he wasn’t used to being in for the bulk of the season. Perron could have (and maybe should have) adjusted to the change, but it is a fair take that many fans might not be considering.
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