moments after the big scrum at the end of the second, corey perry remained pretty upset, slamming the bench door. then, he has a cordial conversation with evander kane.
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Should the Oilers re-sign Corey Perry in free agency?
Photo credit: Sergei Belski-Imagn Images
May 30, 2026, 10:30 EDTUpdated: May 30, 2026, 10:31 EDT
With a longer off-season than we’ve been used to over the last couple of years for the Edmonton Oilers, it gives us more time to explore lineup fits for the 2026–27 campaign, and a familiar, grizzled vet might be available once free agency opens.
Hockey insider Pierre LeBrun mentioned in a recent article in The Athletic that former Oilers forward Corey Perry told him last month, while the Tampa Bay Lightning were still in the playoffs, that he’s not quite ready to hang up the skates yet, saying, “I still want to continue to play.” LeBrun followed up with Perry’s agent last week and confirmed again that he still wants to play next season if there’s a fit somewhere that makes sense for him, and LeBrun also noted that a return to Tampa Bay is not likely.
Perry played in 119 regular-season games and 41 playoff games with the Oilers from 2023–2025, making an impact in his short time with the team. After the 2025 playoffs, Perry expressed his desire to re-sign in Edmonton, but eventually signed with the Los Angeles Kings on a one-year deal with an average annual value (AAV) of $2 million, along with up to an additional $2 million in performance bonuses, before being traded to Tampa Bay at the trade deadline.
Now Perry is set to become an unrestricted free agent once the 2025-26 season completes. The former Hart Trophy winner scored 17 goals in 72 regular-season games last season and still wants to play, which naturally raises the question of whether the “fit” is right in Edmonton, and if the Oilers should bring him back into the fold.
What could Perry add to the Oilers’ lineup?
Perry’s wheels have slowed over the years, but the 41-year-old could still bring a lot to the table.
To start, with his winning pedigree at every level — including a Stanley Cup and Olympic gold — he could bring veteran leadership that would take some of the load off Connor McDavid and Leon Draisaitl, an element I feel the Oilers were missing in 2025-26.
Additionally, when players aren’t playing well, Perry could be the one to hold them accountable.
I think of last season when Draisaitl, after a 4-3 loss to the Calgary Flames in February, spoke out to hold people accountable, such as his former coach Kris Knoblauch and Tristan Jarry. It caused quite a stir, perhaps even a distraction, and that moment still gets talked about even with the season finished. Perry, with so many accolades in his hockey career, could handle those moments and let the superstars focus on their game.
An example of Perry holding players accountable that comes to mind was back in April 2024, also against the Flames. Perry was visibly upset with former Oilers winger Evander Kane, and the two had some heated words on the bench.
There was speculation that the heated moment was due to a lazy turnover by Kane, and Perry cleared the air afterward, talking about accountability, saying:
“Brothers fight. Just trying to bring out the best in everybody. We weren’t playing our best hockey, and just frustrations and emotions boiled over — that’s all.” He added, “That’s what makes a team work, right? That’s how you win. You hold everybody accountable. You push everybody’s buttons, you do whatever you have to do to get the best out of everybody.”
Next is the gamesmanship element Perry would add to the lineup, something he hasn’t lost since leaving Oil Country, with his Tampa Bay coach Jon Cooper having recently talked about his competitive edge:
“It’s a gift,” said Cooper. “You can look at guys that are fighters in the league, and some guys know when to do it, and some guys don’t know when to do it. It’s really hard to explain, but his acumen and sense for the temperature of a game; it’s excellent. He knows what to say, when to say it, how to do it, and I think that’s how Corey Perry’s still playing at 41 years old.”
Throughout Perry’s career, he’s known the exact moments when to chirp and when to drop the gloves, to give his team a boost. The 41-year-old dropped the gloves five times last season, and hockeyfights.com shows that he lost four out of the five fights, meaning he likely knows he won’t win them, but he’ll take a few knuckle sandwiches to the face to rally the team.
Additionally, we saw that time and again when he was an Oilers player, he had fought nine times while wearing orange and blue silks. One instance that stands out the most is when the Oilers came out flat against the Winnipeg Jets in March 2024, and Perry fought the 6-foot-7, 234-pound behemoth in Logan Stanley, knowing he’d be taking the L on his hockeyfights.com stats, but still brought life to his team, as the Oilers went on to win 4-3 in OT.
And then, of course, there’s the goal-scoring touch Perry could bring to the Oilers roster.
Perry showed his ability to play up and down the lineup when he was with the Oilers, scoring 27 regular-season goals in 119 games, and stepping up huge in the 2024-25 playoffs, scoring 10 goals, second-most on the team. Moreover, his signature Oilers moment came in Game 2 of the Stanley Cup Final in 2025, when he tied the game with 17 seconds left, recording the latest game-tying goal in Stanley Cup Final history.
COREY PERRY TIES THE GAME
In 2025-26 with the Kings and Lightning, he scored 17 goals, with 12 of them coming at five-on-five. Also, using his 50 games played with the Kings, according to Natural Stat Trick, his five-on-five numbers were all positive, including a 59.46 goals-for percentage, 51.49 scoring chances-for percentage, 55.17 high-danger chances-for percentage, and a 53.14 expected goals-for percentage, although 68% of his shifts started in the offensive zone.
Taking everything into account, should the Oilers sign Perry if he hits the open market?
As much as I want the Oilers to get younger, Perry brings so much to the table that Edmonton needs, and I’d be on board with bringing him back into the fold, but only if it’s on a one-year deal around the $2 million to $2.5 million per season range, maximum, with no performance bonuses.
The other question would be whether Perry would actually want to come back to Edmonton. By all accounts, it seemed like he enjoyed his time in Oil Country, and as he’s been to the Stanley Cup Final in five of the last six seasons, he recently spoke with The Athletic about the one particular playoff loss that lingered the most:
“In those years (trips to Cup Final), I’ve only had one game to win the Stanley Cup,” he said. “Game 7 in Florida. All the other ones, they were up 3-1 or 3-2. That one in Florida really stung. It stung a lot. It lit a little more fuel under me. There’s a goal at the end of this.”
That stinging feeling is likely still felt deep down, too, by his former Oilers teammates who remain from that 2023–24 team that went to the Stanley Cup Final. That said, perhaps Perry’s goal moving forward isn’t necessarily about cashing in on the biggest contract this time around, but could instead be about finishing what he started with his old Oilers teammates.