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Blues trade Perron to Oilers for Paajarvi

David Perron

St. Louis Blues’ David Perron (57) skates in the first period of an NHL hockey game against the Chicago Blackhawks, Saturday, Dec. 3, 2011, in St. Louis. Perron was appearing in his first game after a 13-month layoff due to a concussion. (AP Photo/Tom Gannam)

AP

A couple of days ago, we wrote that the St. Louis Blues may need to make a trade to reduce salary.

Today, they did just that, sending winger David Perron to the Edmonton Oilers for 22-year-old winger Magnus Paajarvi and a 2014 second-round draft pick.

Perron, 25, has three years remaining on his contract, with a cap hit of $3.8 million. That he was traded should come as no surprise, as he was reportedly dangled at the draft.

For Oilers general manager Craig MacTavish, perhaps the Perron acquisition will quell some of the offseason frustration he was feeling.

Perron, the Blues’ 26th overall pick in the 2007 draft, had 10 goals and 15 assists in 48 games last season. He had a career-high 21 goals in 2011-12, and that was in just 57 games (he missed considerable time with a concussion that season, as well as the one before it).

As for Paajarvi, the past two seasons have been frustrating for the 2009 10th overall pick. He showed great promise as a rookie in 2010-11; however, he’s spent time in both Edmonton and AHL Oklahoma City since then.

In 2013, Paajarvi had nine goals and seven assists in 42 games for the Oilers.

“Magnus is a well-rounded player who has good size and great skating ability,” said Blues GM Doug Armstrong in a release. “He is just coming into his own and this will open up more ice time for Jaden (Schwartz) and Vladimir (Tarasenko). I would like to thank David for his time in St. Louis and wish him well in Edmonton.”

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