NHL rumors: Corey Perry looking for a two-year, $5M Oilers extension, per team insider

Corey Perry is here to stay in the NHL. The forward, at 40 years of age, has stated that he will return to the rink. As an unrestricted free agent, expectatons are there for him to head back to Edmonton. He was signed to a one-year $1.4 million contract.

In the last five years Corey Perry has reached the Stanley Cup Finals five times with four teams and unfortunately lost all of them. The Oilers are the only team with whom Perry reached two finals. He has been well accepted in the lineup as an enforcer and his two-way skills with precision in the net propelled Edmonton to the Finals.

Perry has made his intentions clear that he wants to stay in the Canadian city.

"I would love to stay here. I'll let the higher ups do the rest of the talking but I thought I went out and left everything on the ice, everything I could give," Perry told reporters on Thursday. "We'll see where it goes and hopefully we're back."

Insider Bob Stauffer on his "Oilers Now" podcast on Tuesday said that the team has a projected contract in mind for Perry.

"I’m hearing Perry’s looking for two years at at $2.5 million (AAV). Given where Edmonton is at, can they go there on Corey Perry at $2–2.5 million for a 40-year-old player?," Stauffer said.

Former Lightning General Manager and guest on the show, Brian Lawton said that the team is unlikely to go for him.

"I love Corey Perry personally, but I don’t believe they could go to that level. They may be able to do it through bonuses or disguise it, but on a straight AAV or managing their cap, the reality is—even though we’re going up to $95.5 [million]—it’s still not enough where you can be sloppy anywhere in your efficiency on your roster," Lawton said [12:12 onwards].

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Oilers' free agency dilemma heightened by cap space

Apart from Perry, the Oilers are having to deal with upcoming contract negotiations of other free agents like Trent Frederic, Connor Brown and most importantly D-man Evan Bouchard, who is expected to get a double-digit AAV contract.

Edmonton will have a $13.162 million salary cap space for next season. As per The Fourth Period, Evander Kane and Viktor Arvidsson are likely to be traded to create space. If Bouchard receives a $10 million contract, that will leave $12 million to sign Perry and others.

Perry managed 30 points from 81 games this season while averaging just over 12 minutes on ice. He had 10 goals in the playoffs, which was second highest for the team behind Leon Draisaitl. The Oilers will have to assess if he deserves the $2.5 million as he has asked.