Though the hype of the offseason was the signing of former San Jose Sharks captain Joe Pavelski, the Dallas Stars didn’t do too shabby signing former NHL MVP Corey Perry as well, but even for his 1-year, $1.5M contract, he’s playing below his expectations.
So far this season, Corey Perry has missed a total of 11 games; 10 due to a foot injury after taking a puck to the skate during the final days of training camp, and an additional game (with four games remaining) for a 5-Game suspension after a hit to the head of Nashville Predators’ Ryan Ellis during last week’s Winter Classic. Perry can’t control his injuries, but he definitely can control his temper.
Though the hit “wasn’t intentional” on Ellis, Perry’s past events and behavior don’t exactly say that’s the case, and even Stars fans have to admit that.
His walk of shame at the Cotton Bowl on January 1st in front of 86K fans will always be etched into NHL historic moments for decades to come.
When he is on the ice, Perry is producing quality minutes by creating scoring chances for himself and his teammates in the attacking zone, great forechecking pressure and passing within the neutral zone, and stepping into shot lanes on the defensive end. His play isn’t the problem each and every game, but it’s his team efficiency within the game plan throughout the season.
The 15-year league veteran is getting older and is a half stride slower than his MVP season in 2011, and it is starting to become more evident how injury prone he is as he gets later and later into his career. Even after playing in Anaheim for 14 seasons, the organization saw it in their best interest to buy out the remainder of his contract and move forward with new blood, but thanks to that he was able to join the new-look Dallas Stars in 2019 for a very reasonable price.
If you have been a Stars fan for a while, then you definitely remember Perry’s “Cup Check” moment on Jamie Benn in 2014 and then the two dropping the gloves against each other during the 2018 regular season. If you aren’t specifically a Stars fan, just type in “Corey Perry hit” into any online search browser and look how many results show. It’s absurd, and not in a good way.
So far this year, Perry has 3 goals with 10 assists, which helps to put his Plus/Minus stat at dead even. Unfortunately, he leads the team in penalty minutes, averaging almost one penalty every two games. Perry is good, his stats prove that, but still after all these years lets his emotions get the best of him. Many Stars fans were upset that he was signed by the team this offseason because of his past antics, and others were somewhat happy just because that meant that their players wouldn’t be on the other end of the late hits and poke checks.
If Perry wants to stay in Dallas after this year, he will have to make sure to stay on the ice during games and help produce for his team in all three areas of the game.
It’s hard to produce for your team when you are sitting on the bench and it’s even harder when you’re sitting in the penalty box.
Featured Image: CBS Sports
