David Perron Skates on Stars' Second Line in First Team Practice

The Dallas Stars recently added forward depth by signing veteran winger David Perron to a one-year, $850,000 pro-rated deal, and early signs suggest his role could be bigger than expected.

The 38-year-old is not expected to make his Stars debut Tuesday, when Dallas hosts the Boston Bruins, but he skated with the team Monday. Perron was projected to play a bottom-six role to start, but that may not be the case. Sam Steel skated with the duo of Wyatt Johnston and Mikko Rantanen but the Stars experimented with a change to the second line.

Perron swapped in for Tyler Seguin during reps with the second unit, while playing with star talents in Roope Hintz and Jason Robertson. Meanwhile, captain Jamie Benn, who started the season hot and played well with Hintz and Robertson, was back to third-line minutes and skated with Justin Hryckowian and Arttu Hyry.

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It will be an interesting lineup rollout if head coach Glen Gulutzan decides to go with Perron on the second unit, and it could give the 20-year NHL veteran a quick jump in his return to the lineup. Practice combinations don't always carry over to games, so the final look remains to be seen.

Perron also announced that he will wear number 16 with Dallas this season. The Sherbrooke, Quebec, native recorded 25 points in 45 games with the Ottawa Senators last season. He also had three goals and no assists in 16 games with the Detroit Red Wings.

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