Oilers deal Perron to Penguins for Klinkhammer, pick
EDMONTON, Alberta (AP) The Edmonton Oilers traded left wing David Perron to the Pittsburgh Penguins on Friday for a 2015 first-round draft pick and center Rob Klinkhammer.
The 26-year-old Perron represented the best chance for Oilers general manager Craig MacTavish to acquire assets for the future.
Last-place Edmonton is already a strong contender to select Connor McDavid in the next draft.
If the Penguins win the Metropolitan Division or reach the Stanley Cup final, the pick the Oilers are getting will be late in the first round, so it could be used in a future trade.
Klinkhammer is a depth center who began the season with the Arizona Coyotes before being dealt to Pittsburgh for defensive prospect Philip Samuelsson. He has four goals and two assists in 29 games this season and 39 points in 139 games.
The 28-year-old may not be a long-term solution, but he could allow the Oilers to send 19-year-old Leon Draisaitl back to junior. The team recalled center Anton Lander from Oklahoma City of the AHL on Thursday.
Klinkhammer has a salary cap hit of $625,000 and is set to be an unrestricted free agent next summer.
One of the Oilers' biggest issues has been the lack of a No. 2 center behind Ryan Nugent-Hopkins. They recently acquired Derek Roy from the Nashville Predators in exchange for Mark Arcobello.
In getting a first-round pick for Perron, who's signed through 2015-'16 at a salary cap hit of $3.81 million, the Oilers made good use of a player who was capable of producing but not turning the franchise around.
The 26-year-old had five goals and 15 assists in 38 games this season.
Perron, who has 117 goals and 157 assists in 456 games with the Oilers and St. Louis Blues, goes from a team stuck in the Western Conference basement to one that is a perennial playoff contender. He could play on the wing in Pittsburgh with either Sidney Crosby or Evgeni Malkin.
''It's a new chapter for me and I get a chance to hopefully go really deep in the playoffs,'' Perron said.