Perry was already taken out of Edmonton's lineup in the second playoff round for contributing next to nothing. Now another player is set to jump ahead of him on the Oilers' depth chart as they face Dallas in the Western Conference Final.
Perry was already taken out of Edmonton's lineup in the second playoff round for contributing next to nothing. Now another player is set to jump ahead of him on the Oilers' depth chart as they face Dallas in the Western Conference Final.
Corey Perry continues to be a non-factor in the playoffs for the Edmonton Oilers. It was seen as a huge win for the team to get the veteran at a league minimum salary after the Chicago Blackhawks terminated his contract in November.
Perry was a staple on the Oilers' third line and contributed in many aspects in the second half of the regular season after signing with Edmonton on Jan. 22. That is until the playoffs, where he went scoreless through the first 10 games and was on the ice for three goals against and none for at 5-on-5.
This forced coach Kris Knoblauch's hand and led to Perry coming out of the lineup after playing less than eight minutes in his 10th game. It also brought in Sam Carrick, who has been engaged and helped form an impactful fourth line that has hit the scoreboard.
While Perry has already been pushed out of the lineup, he is going to be dropped even further down the ladder very soon as Adam Henrique, the Oilers' big trade deadline addition from the Anaheim Ducks, is set to return in either Game 3 or Game 4 of the Western Conference Final against Dallas.
The 34-year-old Henrique is a no-brainer to return to the lineup as soon as he's fully healthy and ready to go. When he does, I see no way in which Perry gets a shot back in the lineup for the Oilers this postseason.
Henrique has the ability to play in the top-6 on the wing or as the third line center. Mixing up that third line has to be the play at this point as nothing could get done when Perry was in the lineup and there is still no offensive production from Ryan McLeod since.
Henrique is set to become a UFA at the end of the season when his five-year contract expires. The forward's deal, AAV and situation is very similar to that of Blackhawks UFA Tyler Johnson, who wants to play "meaningful games" next spring.
The Oilers need to utilize their speed, something the 39-year-old Perry doesn't possess and a number of the Oilers in the lineup right now do. Henrique isn't the quickest, but he's younger than Perry, can play multiple positions, and has already contributed. It isn't even a comparison between Henrique and Perry at this point. Perry lost his chance when he couldn't even wear opponents down with his usual antics when he wasn't contributing offensively.
Perry may have been a great piece to have for Stanley Cup runs in three of the past four years, but it seems as though that time has passed and his time is done.
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