Three Anaheim Ducks players the Montreal Canadiens may trade for

2. Corey Perry

Let’s change gears a bit here. Defence is likely to be the goal for the Montreal Canadiens ahead of the trade deadline, but keep in mind their greatest weapon: cap space.

The Habs are in a great position to lend a helping hand to other teams in the league with their $9,350,994 cushion and make a similar deal that landed them Joel Armia. And here is where Corey Perry ties into all of this.

Perry, along with Ryan Getzlaf, has been the face of the Anaheim Ducks for years. He’s strapped together 959 NHL games putting up 353 goals and 388 assists for a total of 741 points in the process. However, the calendar has taken to Perry as of late. But that doesn’t mean he’s a bad player at all. What hurts Anaheim is the contract he’s on which has Perry making $8.625 million for another two seasons.

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It’s tough to get something done with that on the books and of the three big deals on the Ducks’ cap, Perry’s is the “easiest” to move. The Montreal Canadiens have the space to handle the cap hit for the duration of the contract. They won’t have it forever as the likes of Artturi Lehkonen and Max Domi to name a few will be in need of new deals by then, but Bergevin has rarely found himself in cap issues. You also have to consider the money coming off the books in the meantime along with an eventual Karl Alzner trade.

Perry isn’t the 40-50 goal player he once was, but he still has offensive skill, especially in the slot, and a hot switch. Many were calling for the end of his era last season, and he went on to put up 17 goals and 32 assists including a stretch of nine points in seven games.

A well-known knock of his are his goal slumps. They’re sometimes reminiscent of Pacioretty when he was still on the team, but Perry will do more and get on the body when the bounces aren’t going his way. Sometimes those get out of hand, and it costs the team a powerplay opportunity or two.

Perry does have a no-movement clause on his contract and would need to waive it for the deal to go through. What the Habs get as a thank you gift for the deal could be what makes this kind of transaction even more favourable. However, there are a lot of what-ifs and maybes that need to come into play.