Perrin is lost, too

That nice little story about Eric Perrin playing with his childhod buddy Marty St. Louis is over. Perrin signed a two-year deal with the Thrashers for $1.5-million. The Lightning saw Perrin as a fourth-line center next season despite his 13 goals playing mostly on the second line with Brad Richards. It is believed Tampa Bay offered the same three-year, $1.575-million deal it gave Nick Tarnasky. Anyway, what the Lightning will miss most from Perrin is his defense. He was uncanny the way he could find the opponent's passing lanes and mess up a play. All it means is the Lightning has more work to do, and Blair Jones gets an opening.

Comments

[Tim A]

Hey Eric, what is that stupid looking uniform the Trashers wear suppose to be anyway????????? It looks like a funnel with a hockey stick hanging out of it and colored by a little kid with a fat purple crayon....pllllllllllll.

[Tim A]

The point here is Perrin will never be a "great" player but he had something in Hockey Bay that he won't have in "Trasher land" and thats a fan base like he had here. He was truly loved and cheered for religously here.... now he puts one over on the fans... for less money no doubt. He would have eventually been placed back into the third and possibly second line. With slumps, injuries and attitudes and the infamos "Torts dog house" you can have counted on it that Eric Perrin would have gotten some quality ice time. In my book, he made a very unwise choice....eh!

[Elisa]

Principles aside, if Perrin signs with TBL and gets relegated to the 4th line, then his career is pretty much over. He stays with the Bolts until they put him out to pasture. He gets low ice time and little opportunity, for the Bolts or for scouting of another team...maybe he gets lucky and Torts pulls him back up into the higher lines? He's already proven his worth...waiting to see is too risky.

Atlanta gives him a shorter contract period but greater opportunity.... the decision?

Business is Business.

Perrin has to think of what is going to provide the best opportunity for his career - beyond three years - and the best return on his investment in the league. I hate to see him go, but given that his age plays against him, Atlanta is a smart move.

Good luck, Perrin. And on that note, please be advised that Eric Perrin's cheering squad has just left the building.

[Phrancois]

I hope Evegeny Artyhukin is watching all this.

Especially the quote from Michel Ouellet's agent, Paul Corbeil, "We are talking to other teams right now but we are sure the Lightning is a good team for Michel,''

That's nice talk to which Mr. Feaster responds most favorably.

The Machiavelliian Moron blowing in Evegeny's ear to sit tight, whilst blowing smoke up Jay's shorts about a willingness to sit in Russia for another year, cost that kid dearly.
A large chunk of $2.5M could have been Artyhukin's---over 3-4 years, after which, the insane money would've been his. Easy.

Now he's toast, with his best years at top energy wasted on ratty rinks in the austere Motherland.

Thank your so-called agent and have another bowl of borscht, stupid.
Bon chance...

[Another Joe]

I think the Bolts are in good shape going into this year.
Look what happened today. Can you imagine the pressure thats going to be on the Rangers this year. With the money theyve given Gomez and Drury everyone will be talking Stanley Cup in New York. They get off to a slow start you watch they'll fire the coach and just watch the pressure mount from the NY media.

Same with the stinking Flyers. They'll be better maybe even make the playoffs, but they cant be much worse then they were last year. It will be interesting to see how these two teams workout.

The best thing these signings did was weaken Buffalo and New Jersey. im not sure either is a playoff team next year with what they've lost.

Now lets look at the Bolts. Starting from the trade deadline last year we are a much improved team from adding Ward and Obrien. Now we add Oullett and Gratton. If Holmer improves just a little bit I like our chances in the East. For sure in the Southeast! Id like to add one more solid D man to be really confident hopefully that will happen so we can team him up with Smamby.

And anothet thing the Rangers still have a weak defense. Scoring goals wasnt their problem last year.

[michael babnik]

after just one day isn't it crystal clear to everyone on this site.....the lightning are tied up financially....i have said it a million times......i was sitting at my dining room table ready to eat breakfast.....opened the st. pete times and saw the headline....brad richards signs for 7.8 million dollars....i dubbed it....although i stole it from buddy holy.....the day hockey died in tampa......and whoa did i hit it on the head.......we don't have anything but minimum wage players.....we will continue to lose players and sign minimum wage players in return.....if management isn't willing to spend like the big frnachises we will go back to being an empty building and probably pretty quick....do you see how are competition got stronger today.....did you see awesome players signing for nothing like what richards got......2 years ago!!!!!!wake up readers....we are not making this team better....we are a shell of a team since we won the cup..........they have to......have to get rid of one fo the big three, to free up money to sign 2-3-4 bodies.....hockey is a four line game and we barely have two.......unfortuantely the next few weeks or even days will paint and ugly picture of things ahead for this franchise...... I sure hope i am wrong

[AnotherJoe]

But if he was offered same deal as Tarnasky that was a three year deal at 525 per year. Lets not forget last season was his first full NHL season and i think that was a fair offer. to be offered a 3 year deal at his age with only one year shows Feaster respected him. That was a fair offer especially with a three year commitment to him.

I didnt want to loose Perrin but i just dont think he is a 750k a year player. Good for him that he got it I understand why he took it.

I agree with slapshot that Atlanta isnt going to win much the next two years.

[SarasotaBill]

Well said Dave.

Nan, like you, I can't blame the guy at all. All things considered, he made the best choice for himself and his family. This should be a surprise to no one. We've talked about that here before.

I think the writing was on the wall with this one sometime ago.

What does surprise me though is that if the reported offer to Eric is correct, 525k per year, sheesh, is it just me or is that low? Well.......apparently it is.

Doesn't matter really. A player is worth what someone is willing to pay.

I can't blame the guy for jumping on an offer nearly 50% higher. I don't have to like it, but I understand it!

[slapshot]

going away is one thing, but going away to the trashers is another thing. that's probably the worst place he could of gone, go luck losing eric perrin.

[Nan]

I can't say as I blame Eric too much, a hockey player's career lasts only so long and isn't he already 31 years old? Feaster might have been more willing to give the guy more dough had he put more of Brad's pucks into the net. The reality is with the cap, these guys will all eventually jump ship sooner or later either willingly or not.

[Dave]

Yeah, you guys are right. That Perrin is such a jerk for taking 225,000 more per year from another team. I'm sure you wouldn't do that either. It's not his fault or the team for that matter. We made a business decision as did Atlanta as did Perrin. We'll see in a year how it works out.

[Another Joe]

I agree. I liked Perrin but I will Boo him when he comes to town thats for sure. I dont blame people for running for the money but he only got 750 per year. Im sure the bolts offer wasnt much less then that!

Well Perrin will be watching the Bolts come next April just like most other Free Agents we've lost over the years. Atlanta will not be a playoff team this year!!!!

[Joe]

Good-bye Eric! Please do not expect to get a cheer from the faithful fans of the Lightning when you return in that strange uniform. And when you see how few extra bucks you'll be making after taxes, you can come to regret (AND WE ALL KNOW THAT YOU WILL) that you turned your back on the one franchise that twice pulled your career out of the dumpster, gave you a championship ring, and stuck your name on the Stanley Cup despite of how little you produced to bring it home.