Edmonton Oilers face interesting decision with Corey Perry for next season
Photo credit: USA Today Sports
As the Edmonton Oilers prepare themselves for Round 1 of this year's playoffs, the team faces many key decisions salary wise which could lead to Corey Perry being the casualty of the salary cap.
The Oilers have two major contracts that need to be addressed which includes Oilers captain Connor McDavid by next offseason and defenseman Evan Bouchard this offseason who will both likely need significant dollars in cap space to keep them in Oil Country.
Perry may be odd man out with new salary cap crunch
Perry has had a great season especially at 39 years old where he has been a solid contributor on the bottom six.
He has played 81 games, scored nineteen goals with 11 assists for 30 points and was a + 12 along with 61 penalty minutes and played 11 minutes and 56 seconds of average ice time.
This was a far better year compared to the last two where he had only 9 and 13 points and had to deal with several key injuries and issues with a former NHL team.
Many would think that the Oilers would continue to keep his services but despite his production, his cap hit is $1.15 million, and the Oilers may need every dollar they can to help construct a team.
Many feel that the Oilers will need to reconstruct some of their cap space as their projected cap space next year will be $10.7 million despite a bump in the salary cap limit.
Likely, Bouchard could eat the bulk of that cap space, and the Oilers will need to look at their farm system to help bring players including Matthew Savoie and Noah Philp who are younger and more affordable to fit under the cap.
Change could be on the horizon for Oilers this offseason
If the Oilers find themselves out of the playoffs in the first round due to the heavy injuries that they have sustained or the team failing to perform, many feel the Oilers will embrace change including general manager Stan Bowman.
The Oilers will need to re evaluate their current lineup especially their average age of the team and would likely look to being younger and faster.
This scenario could see players like Perry on the outside looking in despite his productive season.
If Perry were to be retained, the team would likely ask for a league minimum for the veteran forward which could be a number that Perry would not be interested in.
If he feels that he has enough left in the tank to continue his career there are other teams in the NHL who could offer him the same money or a little more especially with the numbers he produced this year.
Time will tell on what Bowman will do but, in the meantime, the Oilers will enjoy his presence and what he will bring to the dressing room as the team prepares for another run of the Stanley Cup.
| POLL | ||
AVRIL 17 | 841 ANSWERS Edmonton Oilers face interesting decision with Corey Perry for next season Do you think the Oilers will move on from Corey Perry next season? | ||
| Yes | 297 | 35.3 % |
| No | 544 | 64.7 % |
| List of polls | ||
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