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The Edmonton Oilers have re-signed veteran forward Corey Perry to a one-year deal worth up to $1.4 million, the team announced on Monday, July 1.
Perry’s contract includes a base salary of $1.15 million with an additional $250,000 in potential bonuses, potentially allowing Perry to earn as much as $1.4 million through the 2024-25 season.
The move surprised some analysts, including Daniel Nugent-Bowman of The Athletic, who described it as “puzzling” days after he predicted Perry was “as good as gone” from the Oielrs ahead of free agency.
“[Oilers CEO Jeff] Jackson signed 39-year-old right winger Corey Perry to a one-year, $1.15 million contract against the cap – a deal that could be worth as much as $1.4 million with incentives,” Nugent-Bowman wrote. “That one’s a bit puzzling considering Perry had 1 goal and 3 points in 19 playoff games on the Oilers’ run.
“He was scratched six times and there often didn’t appear to be a natural fit in the lineup when he did play. For that, he got a pay bump.”
The analyst built his case for calling Perry’s re-signing “puzzling” around the fact that the veteran forward only contributed 1 goal and 2 assists in 19 postseason matchups.
Perry, however, appeared in a sizable 38 regular-season games with Edmonton scoring 13 points arriving in Edmonton after the Chicago Blackhawks waived him in November 2023.
Corey Perry’s Role & Fit in Edmonton
The Oilers signed Perry, who just turned 39, midway through the 2023-24 regular season mostly because of his experience and leadership. Edmonton’s head coach Kris Knoblauch spoke highly of the veteran during the playoffs amid his struggles.
“He’s a great mentor for our younger guys, even our older guys,” Knoblauch said after Game 4 of the Western Conference finals, via Global News. “Just settling things down and being positive. Whether he’s dressed or not, he’s great to have on our team.”
Perry might have not been a key player in the Oilers deep postseason run in 2024, but he’s appeared in four of the last five Stanley Cup finals, all with different teams: the Dallas Stars in 2020, Montreal Canadiens in 2021, Tampa Bay Lightning in 2022, and Oilers this spring. Before that, he reached (and won) the Cup with the Anaheim Ducks in 2007.
Perry has amassed 429 goals and 905 points in 1,311 career NHL games. The Ducks drafted him with the No. 28 pick in 2003. Perry won the Hart Trophy and Maurice “Rocket” Richard Trophy in 2011 after scoring 50 goals and 98 points in 82 games.
Oilers Early Offseason Business Looking Good
The Oilers lost no time at the start of the free agency and bolstered their already-talented roster by signing players from both inside and outside the organization.
Edmonton signed free agents from other franchises adding at least one player to each of the lineup positions. The Oilers added forwards Viktor Arvidsson and Jeff Skinner, signed goalie Collin Delia, and inked defensemen Joshua Brown and Connor Carrick.
The Stanley Cup runner-ups also agreed to extensions with Perry, Connor Brown, Mattias Janmark, Troy Stecher, and Adam Henrique.
Among all of the players above, only Henrique ($6 million) and Arvidsson ($8 million) commanded more than $4.5 million starting next season, and even then, both signed two-year contracts giving the Oilers a lot of flexibility going forward.
Brown signed a bargain one-year, $1 million deal. Janmark inked a three-year, $1.45 million AAV contract. Skinner signed for just $3 million over a single season.
In Nugent-Bowman’s eyes, the Oilers are coming off a Stanley Cup Final run and entering the 2024-25 season with the best forward corps since the Oiler days of Wayne Gretzky, all the way back in 1988.
“This could be the best top six – maybe even top nine – the Oilers have had since Wayne Gretzky patrolled the ice.”
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