The Detroit Red Wings need David Perron to step up with Dylan Larkin injured.
Again, the Red Wings need everyone to elevate their game, with Dylan Larkin sidelined with a lower-body injury, but they really need a specific few to bite off a bit more than they have to this point in the season.
Veteran winger David Perron performed at a high-level last season in his first year with the organization. However, as the Red Wings improved their roster and limited Perron's role, his offensive numbers have dried up some. Last year, Perron notched 24 goals, 18 of which came at even-strength and 56 points over 82 games. Perron has scored 13 times this season and added 19 assists through 57 contests. The production hasn't dipped a ton, but the Red Wings can't afford any dip in production right now with their best player sidelined and the wild card race as tight as it is.
Perron's averaging 0.23 goals per game this season from 0.29 last year, and his 0.56 points per game is slightly down from 0.68 a year ago. When you look at it from an ice-time point of view, Perron totaled 1.0 goals and 2.4 points per 60/minutes last season and 0.9 goals and 2.2 points/60 minutes this year, and he's primarily played on Detroit's third line this season rather than a staple on the second group from a year ago. He's notched six power-play goals this season, the same total as a year ago, but just seven even-strength tallies. He did miss six games to suspension in December for his vicious cross check to Artem Zub while sticking up for his captain.
Again, this isn't a negative thought regarding Perron, but the team's vocal leader needs to find a way to create more offense during five-on-five play. Perron is excellent at working on the wall and protecting the puck, but he needs to find a way to get more puck on goal. His 11.9% shooting percentage this season is his worst since 2016-17, and he is a minus-11 on the year.
His Corsi For Percentage during even strength play has dipped nearly 5% from a year ago to 45.3, and his Relative Corsi For Percentage has gone from 5.4 to -1.3. Four of Perron's 13 goals have come from a medium-danger area, and five have come from a high-danger area tight to the goal. Perron has totaled two goals and six points over his past 11 games.