Edmonton Oilers: Is Brendan Perlini the answer for this team?

Game 1 of the 2021-22 regular season is almost upon us, and the Oilers seem to have made their final cuts, and finalized their roster. With the last moves before the roster freeze, the Oilers assigned Kyle Turris, William Lagesson and Stuart Skinner to Bakersfield as their last moves before opening night. This means Tyler Benson, Evan Bouchard and Brendan Perlini all cracked the final roster.

This offseason, as one of the smaller moves the Oilers made, forward Brendan Perlini agreed to a 1 year, two way deal worth $750,000 after spending last season with HC Ambri-Piotta in the Swiss National League, where he put up 16 points in 21 games, and added 26 penalty minutes with a plus minus rating of -17.

Before signing in Edmonton, Perlini spent time with the Coyotes, Blackhawks, and Red Wings. In 239 NHL games, he scored 46 goals and tallied 30 assists for 76 points. He also has 86 penalty minutes, and a rather lackluster plus minus total of -41.

As I’ve mentioned in previous articles, fans were definitely skeptical of this signing. At 25, Perlini seemed to be bouncing around the league, and wasn’t a very strong offensive producer. On top of that, his advanced stats showed he was a liability on defense, and didn’t contribute much to offense whatsoever, but a league minimum deal with flexibility didn’t seem too bad, and he proved every doubter wrong. Perlini finished the preseason with 6 goals and an assist for 7 points, and is on the opening night roster, likely on the 4th line for the first game of the year against Vancouver.

Hopefully Perlini isn’t just for show, because he has more then earned his spot in the Oilers lineup this season. But with a two way deal, he’ll have to keep a decent pace. Nobody is expecting him to have a career year, but he’s definitely going to have to keep his defensive play clean, while bringing the grittiness he has on a nightly basis. Likely playing on a line with McLeod and one of Tyler Benson, Devin Shore or Colton Sceviour, Perlini will be put in a situation to succeed, and I have very high hopes for the young man.

I predict an 8 goal, 15 assist season for Perlini, totaling 22 points while adding around 45 penalty minutes. I’m hoping he continues to play well defensively, and I believe he won’t have anything worse then a -5 for his plus minus rating this season.