Senators winger David Perron had been away from the team for a better part of a month for a personal reason. Speaking with reporters today including Postmedia’s Bruce Garrioch, the veteran revealed that his newborn daughter had to undergo surgery to remove a tumor. However, things have improved enough to allow the 36-year-old to return to the team.
Perron signed with Ottawa on the opening day of free agency back in July, inking a two-year, $8MM contract with a partial no-trade clause. The Sens reshaped part of their forward group over the offseason with Perron being the most notable addition alongside Michael Amadio, Noah Gregor, and Nick Cousins.
Perron got off to a slow start, certainly understandable given the circumstances. He was held off the scoresheet in his first five appearances while averaging just 13:26 per game, his lowest ATOI since his rookie campaign back in 2007-08. Nonetheless, his return will be a welcome one.
While Perron made the trip to Carolina, it’s not a guarantee that he will suit up as the Sens could elect to wait one more game, allowing him to get a couple more practices in before officially returning to the lineup. He remained on Ottawa’s active roster during his absence so the team doesn’t need to make a roster move when he is indeed ready to play.