Perry signs 1-year, $4 million contract with Blackhawks after trade

Corey Perry signed a one-year, $4 million contract with the Chicago Blackhawks on Friday, one day after he was acquired in a trade with the Tampa Bay Lightning for a seventh-round pick in the 2024 NHL Draft.

The 38-year-old forward had 25 points (12 goals, 13 assists) in 81 regular-season games for the Lightning this season, his 18th in the NHL. He had five points (two goals, three assists) in six Stanley Cup Playoff games.

He could have been an unrestricted free agent July 1.

Blackhawks general manager Kyle Davidson said Perry can bring a veteran presence to a Chicago team that likely won't re-sign center Jonathan Toews and already traded away longtime forward Patrick Kane.

"Been in the League quite some time, knows what it takes to win, knows how to be a great professional," Davidson said, "and then also has some background and some history with our head coach, where Luke (Richardson) was with him in Montreal (Canadiens), saw how he worked with some of their young players and he appreciated that, saw a great benefit in what Corey did, so we're going to try to extract some of that benefit as well."

Selected by the Anaheim Ducks in the first round (No. 28) of the 2003 NHL Draft, Perry has 883 points (417 goals, 466 assists) in 1,257 regular-season games for the Lightning, Canadiens, Dallas Stars and Ducks, and 124 points (53 goals, 71 assists) in 196 playoff games.

Perry won the Stanley Cup with Anaheim in 2007 and the Hart Trophy voted as NHL most valuable player for the 2010-11 season, when he led the League with 50 goals and was third with 98 points.

Perry is a tough-nosed player who is not exactly a fan favorite in Chicago, but Davidson said he hopes he can win over the fans and also help forward Connor Bedard, who was selected with the No. 1 pick in the 2023 Upper Deck NHL Draft on Wednesday.

"Probably a guy you hate to play against, you love to have on your team. That's how we hope it'll play out."

As for protecting Bedard, Davidson said, "I guess a side benefit potentially. Wouldn't be the main motivation, more so, again, mentorship and veteran presence we want to bring in."

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Perry is the latest of several acquisitions by Chicago, which acquired forwards Taylor Hall and Nick Foligno in a trade with the Boston Bruins for defensemen Alec Regula and Ian Mitchell on Monday.

Earlier Thursday, the Blackhawks acquired forward Josh Bailey and a second-round pick in the 2026 NHL Draft from the New York Islanders for future considerations. Davidson said Bailey was put on unconditional waivers for the purpose of a buyout. He has one year remaining on the six-year contract he signed with the Islanders on Feb. 23, 2018.

"I have great respect for Josh's career and his being a vet in this league," Davidson said. "Didn't necessarily see a clear path to a role for us, so better to give him the opportunity to find that elsewhere than kind of be in and out and not have a true role with us."

The 33-year-old forward had 25 points (eight goals, 17 assists) in 64 games this season. He did not appear in the Islanders' six-game loss to the Carolina Hurricanes in the Eastern Conference First Round.

Selected with the No. 9 pick in the 2008 NHL Draft, Bailey has 580 points (184 goals, 396 assists) in 1,057 NHL games, all with New York, and 50 points (16 goals, 34 assists) in 71 playoff games.

NHL.com staff writer Tracey Myers contributed to this report