Montreal Canadiens: 7 Talking Points

6. Corey Perry

I am not ashamed to admit that I severely underestimated Corey Perry and his importance to this team when Marc Bergevin signed him to a one-year league-minimum deal. Perry was great in the playoffs for Dallas and has been even better to start the season with the Habs. In 24 games he has accumulated 6 goals and 12 points. He has 2 goals and 3 assists on the powerplay and has been integral to the Petry-Kotkaniemi unit’s success; it has scored 7 goals in the 12 games since Alex Burrows took over the powerplay duties.

While Perry has slowed down, he is still extremely intelligent with and without the puck and displays his skill at least once every game with a nifty toe-drag or dangle. His net-front screen ability is far superior to any other Canadiens forward, including Brendan Gallagher. In short, he has been more valuable to the Canadiens than any of Joel Armia, Paul Byron, Artturi Lehkonen or Jake Evans have. He has cemented his spot in the lineup.

He has also accumulated just 11 penalty minutes this season, so he isn’t hurting the team with his renowned indiscipline either. The veteran right-winger has been Marc Bergevin’s best bargain-bin signing, in my mind; better than Daniel Briere, Ales Hemsky, Mark Streit and most notably of all, Ilya Kovalchuk.

While Kovalchuk exploded upon his arrival, Perry has improved with every game and become integral to the lineup, which Kovalchik no longer was when he was traded. It should be noted, however, that Kovalchuk basically netted the Habs Jake Allen, so in terms of long-term value, his signing may end up being the best.