Player Review: Mathieu Perreault

Important, overpaid, divisive. No player has more differing opinions surrounding him than Winnipeg Jets forward Mathieu Perreault. He only scored 31 points including 15 goals this past season, but his contribution to the team has been immeasurable by scoring stats. Does that justify his pay?

This is why Perreault is so divisive: he is important to the Jets success, but his output does not justify how much he makes unless you dig below the surface on his production. Before going there, I think the question has to be asked: how much does one player have to score to be deemed a good contract? Perreault makes $4.125 million/season. According to CapGeek, his closest has roughly the same scoring rate as him with much worse possession numbers. It could then be argued that Perreault’s total output (points and possession contributions) justify his contract.

The last two numbers are the most important here: both Perreault’s Corsi and CorsiRel are phenomenal for the Jets. Perreault is a possession driver for the Jets no matter the line he is on and who he plays with. The Jets do no use this to their full advantage as they could use him with Adam Lowry to help make Lowry’s line more effective against top opposition instead of simply putting him on the fourth line like what happens some of the time with the Jets.

This season Perreault was moved around more and while he did not score more, he was able to contribute well to the lineup overall. He might not have scored more, but he helped the Jets in a positive way the entire season. He was able to contribute to any line he was put on and make the Jets a better team when he was on the ice. Perreault is who some fans think a player like Brandon Tanev is. Mathieu Perreault is not a perfect player, but based on his contract he is everything the Jets could have wanted him to be.