Then, all of a sudden, he's supposedly a trade target.
"At first I was asking myself where those rumors were coming from," Perreault said before the Jets played the Montreal Canadiens at Bell Centre on Saturday. "I signed a four-year contract extension in the summer, and six months later people are talking about trading me. That's why, when I talk to the coaches and the organization, I know it's not coming from the organization. I don't know if it's coming from the media or how it's getting out there."
The more he thought about it, however, Perreault came to realize that perhaps the upcoming expansion draft might be a reason why the Jets would consider moving him.
"Maybe I'm a guy they might lose for nothing," he said.
Perreault, 29, entered the game in Montreal with 18 points (four goals, 14 assists) in 43 games, his lowest point per game average (0.42) since 2010-11, his second season in the NHL. But he has been a strong possession player his entire career and remains so now.
"I want to stay in Winnipeg," said Perreault, who does not have no-trade protection on his current contract, but has a modified no-trade clause on his next one. "I signed here knowing there was a good future here with some good young players. This season's been tough. We're not out of it yet, but it's going to be tough, we're going to need a pretty great run from now until the end of the season to make the playoffs.
"If a trade happens, it will probably be to a team that's going to make the playoffs, and at my age I'd like to try to win the Stanley Cup eventually. So if it happens, at least it would be to a team that's going to make the playoffs."