A Winning Habit
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Montreal Canadiens: Perry, Frolik Additions a Familiar Concept for Bergevin

By Scott Cowan

GLENDALE, ARIZONA - DECEMBER 29: Corey Perry #10 of the Dallas Stars skates on the ice during a break from the second period of the NHL game against the Arizona Coyotes at Gila River Arena on December 29, 2019 in Glendale, Arizona. The Stars defeated the Coyotes 4-2. (Photo by Christian Petersen/Getty Images)
GLENDALE, ARIZONA - DECEMBER 29: Corey Perry #10 of the Dallas Stars skates on the ice during a break from the second period of the NHL game against the Arizona Coyotes at Gila River Arena on December 29, 2019 in Glendale, Arizona. The Stars defeated the Coyotes 4-2. (Photo by Christian Petersen/Getty Images) /
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Montreal Canadiens
TORONTO, ON – JANUARY 23: Montreal Canadiens, Corey Perry /

For Perry, after playing a key defensive role in the Dallas Stars run to the Stanley Cup finals in last season’s playoffs, the former Anaheim Ducks star finds himself as a member of the Canadiens after a rocky start to last season, having been bought out by Anaheim of the final two years of a deal worth 8.625$ million annually. Similar to his contract, The Peterborough native is far removed from his 98-point performance in the 2010-11 season but still brings some solid checking abilities and a reputation as a top agitator, something that proved useful for the Stars in their playoff run.

While this off-season has seen a number of changes in regard to Bergevin’s strategy with the Canadiens, as he looks to lead the team back to the playoffs for the first time in two years, acquisitions like Frolik and Perry are something Bergevin has made a habit of doing in his tenure with the Canadiens, to varying degrees of success.

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One of the more interesting parts of the NHL pre-season is seeing the players who have been signed to PTOs (Professional Tryout Contracts), which is typically a who’s who of former NHLers and or top prospects. While cases like David Booth and Devin Setoguchi’s comebacks with the Detroit Red Wings and Los Angeles Kings respectively made for a feel-good story early on, others simply faded into obscurity, like when former Phoenix Coyotes top prospect Peter Mueller attempted a failed comeback with the Boston Bruins in 2016.

For the Canadiens, such acquisitions were once seen as a low-risk option for a once contending team, with Tomas Fleischmann’s one-year deal back in 2015 producing a solid season from the former consistent scorer, and eventually led to the Canadiens netting both Philip Danault and eventually Alexander Romanov at that year’s trade deadline. However, following the Habs’ last playoff appearance in 2016-17, they began to have a tinge of desperation as the team looked to fill holes in the lineup that were simply too big to be filled by a depth signing.

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