As the old saying goes: If you can’t beat ‘em, join ‘em. After losing to the Tampa Bay Lightning in the Stanley Cup Final in back-to-back years, with two different teams, that’s exactly what Corey Perry decided to do. The Bolts announced today that they have inked the veteran troublemaker to a two-year pact worth $1-million per season.

Thanks to his antics with the Montreal Canadiens and Dallas Stars when emotions were at their peak, Perry was viewed – up until today – as persona non grata in Tampa. He annoyed the heck out of players and fans alike. Now, though, he’s one of those guys that the Lightning will love to have in their locker room and on their team. Tampa Bay’s forward depth may have taken a big hit this offseason, but the personality that will live within their bottom six thanks to Pat Maroon and Perry might just make up for it on the entertainment value front.

Outside that entertainment component, however, it’s tough to make sense of this deal. The term and dollars are both low enough that it shouldn’t matter, but seeing a clearly defined role for Perry on this team is difficult. At 36 years old, he isn’t the same prolific scoring threat he once was. See below:

Corey Perry, signed 2 years by TB, is still a capable two-way bottom six forward. #GoBolts pic.twitter.com/CzLjw4i7Tf

— JFresh (@JFreshHockey) July 29, 2021

There’s absolutely nothing wrong with having a “capable two-way bottom six forward” in the Lightning’s bottom six, but it’s worth wondering if those dollars and that roster spot could have been used to fill a more niche role. For example, with the loss of Yanni Gourde, Blake Coleman, and Barclay Goodrow, the Lightning lost their top two penalty killing forwards from last year – and three of their top five. According to Natural Stat Trick, Perry played a whopping one minute and 55 seconds of penalty kill time with the Canadiens last season. Again, he’s a competent bottom six forward, but he’s not a guy who is going to help the Bolts in what now projects as a clear area of need.

With all that said, this signing isn’t going to be the difference between the Lightning challenging for the Cup again or missing the playoffs. He’s a complementary piece joining a team that had his number for two straight seasons. There's really not much more to it than that. My expectation is that his role on this team will be completely dependent on how brightly the Syracuse kids who want to make a full-time jump to the big leagues shine compared to him.

As always, thanks for reading.

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