The Tampa Bay Lightning brought back Corey Perry. Will Perry be one of the pieces of the puzzle who brings the Lightning another Cup, or will he be on the wrong side of the Cup final once again?
The Tampa Bay Lightning are getting the band back together, reacquiring right winger Corey Perry from the Los Angeles Kings.
The Kings received a 2028 second-round pick in return, and they're retaining half of Perry's $2-million cap hit. He's a pending UFA.
Perry played for the Lightning in 2021-22 and 2022-23, making the Stanley Cup final with them once. That's part of an incredible stretch where Perry has made the final in five of the past six seasons, including in the last two seasons with the Edmonton Oilers.
Now, he has a pretty decent chance of making it back there.
But in the bigger picture, it's clear BriseBois believes in veteran players who took Tampa Bay far in the post-season.
Last season, the Lightning re-acquired veteran Yanni Gourde from the Seattle Kraken. BriseBois also brought back defenseman Ryan McDonagh for a second tour of duty in Tampa Bay. And now, with Perry back on board, the Bolts have the experience they're looking for to get over the hump and win their third Cup in the past eight seasons.
It's interesting to know that Perry had a full no-trade clause in his contract with the Kings. Frank Seravalli of Victory+ reported Perry initially told the Kings he wanted to stay, not just for this season but beyond, with a contract extension. But he reportedly changed his mind on Friday.
The 40-year-old waived his clause to move back to the Lightning, but it wasn't as if he was having a poor season in Los Angeles. He had 11 goals and 28 points in 50 games this season.
Los Angeles is not in a playoff spot at the moment, trailing the Seattle Kraken by three points for the second wild-card spot. The Lightning lead the Atlantic Division with 80 points, and they're the second-best team in the Eastern Conference.
The Lightning have a considerably clearer path to the Stanley Cup final than L.A. has, so Perry may be playing the odds by accepting a deal to Tampa.
Corey Perry's Cup Final Runs Are Bittersweet
Only 78 players have made the Cup final six times. Perry is one of them.
The downside of Perry's playoff streak is that he hasn't won a Cup since he did so with the Anaheim Ducks in 2007. That probably feels like an eternity for Perry.
With the Dallas Stars and Montreal Canadiens in 2020 and 2021, he lost to the Lightning both times in the final. He then joined Tampa Bay, which lost the 2022 final to the Colorado Avalanche. And in the last two seasons, he lost to the Florida Panthers in the Cup final.
So the opportunity to join a terrific team in the Lightning was too good for Perry to turn down.
There's no guarantee for any team or player to win a Cup. And although Perry has been on the wrong side of the Cup final for a long time now, he also has gone farther than most NHLers in the past half-decade or longer.
Perry and the Bolts is a familiar relationship to both parties, and only time will tell whether Perry should've stuck with the Kings – or whether joining the Lightning was the right move for him as he edged ever-closer to retirement.
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