FEATURE: Perry bringing his valued pedigree to Oil Country

EDMONTON, AB – Luckily for the Edmonton Oilers, they already had a firm voice of support inside the Perry family when it came to trying to secure the veteran free agent’s services.

“I do want to say there were some other suitors out there that were great options, and I want to thank them, but it all kept coming back here,” said Corey Perry said from the Oilers Hall of Fame Room inside Rogers Place on Monday afternoon.

“When you have a six-year-old kid and you have Connor McDavid on the team, you kind of follow the Edmonton Oilers.”

Corey’s son Griffin and McDavid’s overall influence as an NHL superstar might’ve played their roles in convincing the 38-year-old right-winger to agree to a one-year contract with the Oilers for the remainder of the 2023-24 NHL season, but it was a conversation with the captain himself that drove home the idea that Edmonton was the right fit for him.

“This team's going in the right direction – and not just because they've won 13 games in a row,” Perry said. “ You can see where they're going, their mindset and the vision of wanting to win a Stanley Cup here.

“I think you look at the pieces around that dressing room, there are guys in there that can play this game and play it well. And when you really get down to it, there's a team in here that wants to win.

“When I talked to Connor before coming here and signing, he mentioned all the great things that the dressing room has. It really spoke words and spoke volumes for me coming here.”

When Perry is ready to make his Blue & Orange debut wearing No. 90, with the target currently set for Saturday’s meeting with Nashville after a few practices, the Oilers will be adding a player with one of the NHL’s most unique skillsets and resumes to their roster for their push for the Stanley Cup.

The Peterborough, Ont. product has accrued 1,273 regular-season games of NHL experience over 19 seasons playing as an agitating forward who can get under the skin of his opponents while providing plenty of offence up and down the lineup, scoring 421 goals over his career and winning the Rocket Richard and Hart Memorial trophies in 2010-11 with Anaheim.

The former London Knights standout is one of the only players in hockey to have won the Memorial Cup (2005), World Juniors (2005), Stanley Cup (2007), Olympics (2010), World Championship (2016) and World Cup of Hockey (2016), but it's in the Stanley Cup Playoffs where Perry’s proven he’s a true performer.

Over 196 career post-season contests, the winger has registered 124 points, scored 53 goals, won a Stanley Cup with the Ducks in 2007 and appeared in three straight Finals between 2020 and 2022 with Dallas, Montreal and Tampa Bay.

Inside the Oilers locker room, where you’ll find a group that’s deeply driven in their pursuit of winning a Stanley Cup of their own, there wasn’t much convincing that needed to be done when their team has the opportunity to add someone with Perry’s ability and playoff pedigree to its program.

For some who have personal experience playing against him in the postseason – fans included – they have a firm understanding of the type of player they’ll be adding to their ranks and just how much better it'll be to have him on their side this time around.

“I think Oilers the fans have a good memory of what it's like playing Corey Perry,” McDavid said, referring to the 2017 Stanley Cup Playoffs and plenty of regular-season battles over his career.

“He's all over the net, just a gamer. He’s played in some of the biggest games you can possibly play in and won those games. You can't teach that type of experience. You can't replicate that other than a guy that's been there and done that, and he's done all that.”

“He’s a guy that has got a tremendous amount of experience. He's won. He's been right there year after year, so he brings a lot of experience, a lot of leadership and a lot of those intangible qualities that you can't just teach. So obviously, a really great add for us.”

Perry's well-regarded role as an on-ice agitator and offensive contributor precedes him in many cases around the League from years of pestering the opposition with his unique playstyle, so it isn't a new experience for him having to bury the hatchet with some new teammates or fanbases.

“It’s exciting," he said. "This isn't the first team I've been on where I've had battles with fans, other players or whatever, so you walk into the dressing room, you say hi, you get it out of the way and you move on. I'm excited to get down to work with these guys and really put the work in and see where this thing can go.”

"I know there's been plenty of players that I've coached against that I absolutely hated," Head Coach Kris Knoblauch added. "But I've also said, 'Oh man, I wish he was on my team'. I think our players have a lot of respect for him because of the way he plays, and I think they have a lot of respect for what he can provide for our team. So I think our team feels we're preparing for something, that we're just trying to get better, and I think he will help us."

For Perry, joining the Oilers is the result of a process that began for himself by taking care of his own mental health and substance-related issues after having his contract terminated by the Chicago Blackhawks in November.

With the support he needed over the last two months, he's been able to take it one step at a time to be able to return to the NHL and looks forward to his future with a new opportunity in Edmonton.

And the Oilers are excited to add his presence to their dressing room.

“When everything happened and my contract was terminated, I didn't know where things were going to go," he said. "So at first, I took care of myself. That was at the front of it – to take care of myself, get myself in a better position, and move on from there and take it day by day. It's been two months, and every day is a step in the right direction and that's what I'm going to continue to do.”

“This whole situation is not easy. But if you do have a problem, get help. There's no shame in it. If you need help, go find it and treat yourself. When I get up in the morning every day now, I can look myself in the mirror and be happy about myself and where I'm going and be proud of what I've done over the last two months.”