After writing an article contemplating the idea of signing Corey Perry, here we are again. He officially signed a one-year deal with the Edmonton Oilers. David Pagnotta from The Fourth Period announced yesterday on Twitter that there was a mutual agreement between both parties, but the details of the contract were not yet made official. Now they are, and he gets an AVV of $775K. Per the hockey website CapFriendly, Perry can also earn up to $325K in performance bonuses.
- $225K for 10 games played.
- $50K if Edmonton wins the second round of the Playoffs and he A)Plays in 50% of Round 2 games or B)50% of the total Round 1 and 2 games.
- $50K if Edmonton wins the third round of the Playoffs and he A)Plays in 50% of Round 3 games or B)50% of the total Round 1, 2, and 3 games.
Per Tom Gazzola via Twitter, Perry and Oilers general manager Ken Holland will speak to the media about the signing after this morning’s practice at roughly 12:30 local time. After wearing jersey numbers 10 and 94 between four teams in 18 NHL seasons, he will be wearing the number 90 on his sixth team.
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There are mixed feelings within the Oilers fanbase about this signing. I referenced the reason behind his contract termination with the Chicago Blackhawks in the previous article referenced in my first sentence, and Oilers fans disliked him heavily when he was still playing for the Anaheim Ducks. Personally, I’m very happy with this signing. Good teams find success with one or two jerks in their line-up. Perry fits this bill and can still contribute to secondary scoring. He also got ice time on Chicago’s top powerplay unit with Connor Bedard and Taylor Hall. Perhaps he could help Edmonton’s second PP unit start clicking since their top PP unit hasn’t been the exact same as last season. He’s always been the sort of player you absolutely love to hate but can play for your team any day. If you’re an unrestricted free agent looking for a destination, and you watch a team win 13 games in a row, how do you pass on that?
Players like Sam Gagner, Mattias Janmark, and Adam Erne will have to keep switching spots on the gameday line-up every now and then to make room for Perry. While I don’t expect him to already play tomorrow against Columbus or maybe even Thursday against Chicago (awkward), this is a big improvement for a bottom 6 that has already improved it’s play during these last couple of months. As he takes a page out of Zach Kassian and Evander Kane, as well as Oilers alumnus Craig MacTavish, who went to Edmonton after spending a year in imprisonment for having his own indictment due to alcohol influence, the Alberta capital really has become the hockey city of second chances.
Welcome to Oil Country, Corey. Show us what you’ve got.
