David Perron Writes About His Transition To Vegas In The Players' Tribune

Every time he's slotted in alongside Erik Haula and James Neal, David Perron has looked like a natural fit with the Golden Knights.
The 29-year-old veteran of 11 NHL seasons is having one of his finest years this season. Playing on the left side, Perron has been Vegas' preeminent setup man, with his 20 assists leading the squad and 27 points in 27 games putting him at a point-per-game pace for the first time in his NHL career.
As much as this has been the narrative as Perron has joined a team in first place as the Christmas Break approaches, it doesn't really shed any light into what goes on internally for a player when they make this sort of transition.
The external has obviously played out on the ice.
But the internal?
For most players, that largely remains a secret. NHL locker rooms aren't necessarily the most likely place for players to publicly open up about their feelings.
Perron did, however, open up in a recent article he penned for The Players' Tribune. In it, Perron writes about how he found out he was bound for Vegas, as well as some of the initial disappointment that came with his divorce from the St. Louis Blues.
And how that disappointment transitioned to optimism.

Perron writes:
It's a beautiful lake that sits just a 45-minute drive from where I grew up Sherbrooke. I used to spend my summers near there as a kid. I remember thinking, if I ever made it as a hockey player, that I would buy a house there.
When I hung up the phone, I just … I sat there. I sat on my boat in complete silence - on a gorgeous summer day - for two hours. I thought back to the day almost exactly 10 years earlier, when the Blues selected me in the first round. I thought about all the wonderful times I had falling in love with St. Louis. I thought about how grateful I was to the owner, Tom Stillman, who loves that club more than most people know. And I thought about how much I would miss that city.
It was unusually quiet on the lake that day. I didn't hear much of anything - no boats or children swimming - it was just me and my thoughts.
I knew Doug had done everything he could to keep me, but it was a tough situation. I called my mom and dad on my way back in from the lake. I told them what was going on and that it wasn't 100% clear yet whether or not Vegas would pick me in the draft the next week.
I docked the boat and walked up the steps to my home - the first home I'd ever bought.
And I thought about where my next home might be.

Perron added:
Just a few days later, Doug called me again. This time I knew exactly what it was going to be about.
He said, "Hey, David, wanted to let you know that we couldn't make a deal to keep you … Vegas is going to pick you tomorrow in the draft."
That's when it felt real. Like, Alright, Vegas it is then. It still hurt to hear. I thought I had done enough in the regular season to warrant a spot on the Blues for this year. But I told myself to stop thinking like that, and that I had my time to be disappointed already.
I turned the page that day. I went and looked up some news on the Golden Knights.
I knew that Marc-Andre Fleury was most likely going to be taken by Vegas. And I knew Flower pretty well from my time in Pittsburgh, so I texted him.
"Vegas?" I wrote.
"Vegas!!!" He replied.
Vegas.
And I slowly started to get more and more excited.
Perron continues by discussing what it's been like arriving in Vegas, immersing himself into a new team and city. And by doing so, joined a team that's been one of the league's most exciting through the season's first half.

To read Perron's full article in The Players' Tribune, CLICK HERE.