Friedman on Perron trade, Oilers, Penguins, Berglund, Anisimov
/Elliotte Friedman was on Edmonton’s 630 CHED on Friday afternoon.
On what he thinks of the David Perron trade:
“It’s pretty much the kind of value I expected. Earlier in the year I had written and said that the Oilers would hope to add a centre for Perron, somebody who could help Ryan Nugent-Hopkins. Maybe a second line kind of guy. I had a few teams reach out to me and they said that Perron’s value would not be able to do that. And it’s very hard in this NHL to trade a winger for a centre, unless it’s an elite, elite, elite winger. And so when I saw what the deal was today, it’s pretty much what I kind of expected to see in return - the first rounder and a player. I think that’s kind of what I expected Perron would yield for Edmonton.”
As part of a conversation on the potential of the St. Louis Blues moving Patrik Berglund:
“I’m not so sure that Edmonton has a lot of interest in Berglund. That’s my read on it.”
On the possibility of Edmonton dealing the No. 1 pick they just acquired from the Penguins:
“The thing it’ll do is it’ll give them a lot of options. They could keep it. They could move it. The more ability you have to do something... it’s all about assets. Do you have assets and can you do something with those assets? And yes, this gives them another option to do something if they decide not to keep the pick.
“In this draft it’s been pretty rare that teams would decide to give up the first round pick. I think Pittsburgh knows they’re not going to be near the top, where those elite talents are, and I guess they felt a lot safer about doing it.”
On fans being upset the Oilers didn’t get Derrick Pouliot or Scott Harrington in the David Perron deal.
“They weren’t getting Pouliot or Harrington for him. They just weren’t.”
Also: “... I don’t think you were getting Harrington or Pouliot for that. I don’t think that’s very realistic.”
On the return for Perron:
“I think you always want more. I understand why the fans say you want more. It’s Klinkhammer, who’s a depth forward. And it’s a first round pick. In the worst-case scenario, Pittsburgh flames out in the first round, it’s probably going to be a pick at around 20-24. It’s not going to be a really high pick. So I understand why fans look at it and say that, I do. I think you always want more, but I just don’t think that was necessarily realistic.
“And like I said earlier... if you think a winger is going to get you a centre, it’s not going to be an elite centre unless it’s an elite winger. And Perron’s a good player, but he’s not an elite winger. I think that who was available for him? Maybe a guy like Berglund was. I could certainly see St. Louis being willing to do that. To try that.
“But other than that... Artem Anisimov: I remember when that rumour came out, a Columbus guy said to me, ‘We’re not doing Artem Anisimov for David Perron.’ When they’re at health, Artem Anisimov is a difference-maker for them. And they were not interested in doing that deal.
“So I think if you were hoping for much more than this, and I certainly understand why an Oilers fan would, I just don’t think it was going to happen.”
Source: 630 CHED/ Transcript: Nichols on Hockey