1. Could be a swing player
At this time, it's not certain if Pirri will play for the Golden Knights or in the AHL with the Chicago Wolves. By the nature of his contract, Pirri would make different amounts of money at the NHL level and AHL level.
In the AHL, Pirri represents a regular 30-goal scorer whose presence would be a tremendous boon to the Chicago Wolves. With veterans Paul Thompson and TJ Tynan already in Chicago, and being joined by the hot stick of Tomas Hyka, Pirri would solidify what would be one of the AHL's Western Conference's most formidable forward groups.
Although it must be noted that Pirri hasn't played in the AHL since 2013-14. He's played for the Chicago Blackhawks, Florida Panthers, Anaheim Ducks and New York Rangers since then.
In the NHL, Pirri is a bit of a question mark.
As recently as 2014-15, he scored 22 goals as a member of the Florida Panthers. Although his other single-season NHL goal totals read….
13
11
3
8
2. One of Gerard Gallant's guys
The question plaguing Pirri for the past three years has been if he could recapture his form from his 22-goal, 2014-15 season. After all, 22 goals in an NHL season isn't exactly something to sneeze at, even if he's never replicated this success in any other campaign.
If there's anything that suggests that Pirri would have a shot to become this player again with the Golden Knights, it's this:
His coach in his 22-goal, 2014-15 season with the Florida Panthers was Gerard Gallant.
3. Scores in bunches
This has been Pirri's reputation through his career.
For example, he scored four goals in the first seven games of the season with the New York Rangers last year. Then he only scored four more times the rest of the season.
This was similarly the case with Pirri during his aforementioned career season with Florida. That season, he had stretches with six goals in seven games, four goals in four games and seven in seven. Sandwiches between this, however, was a span of 15 games without a goal.
This is a player who is streaky and still trying to find his niche at the NHL level. But when at his best, he's proven he can contribute a serious amount of offense.
Low risk, high potential reward for the Golden Knights.
