Perry in 'awe' playing on line with McDavid, Draisaitl for Oilers

EDMONTON -- Corey Perry has played with several superstar forwards over the course of his 20 seasons in the NHL, and Connor McDavid and Leon Draisaitl rank right at the top.

Utilized predominately in a fourth-line role for the Edmonton Oilers this season, Perry got an opportunity to see how the other half lived, elevated to the No. 1 line with the two stars against the Toronto Maple Leafs this past Saturday and at the St. Louis Blues on Tuesday.

“I’ve played with some pretty good players, some Hall of Fame players and those two will be in the Hall of Fame one day as well,” Perry said. “You can’t express what they bring to the game and how they play the game. You see it each and every day, there is always an ‘awe’ moment that they pull on the ice and that’s the best part of it.”

Getting to play alongside McDavid and Draisaitl was an impressive promotion for the 39-year-old, who worked his way up the lineup by earning the trust of coach Kris Knoblauch. Perry has been very good for the Oilers this season and demonstrated he still has a lot of hockey left in him.

“My expectations are pretty high of Corey,” Knoblauch said. “In my opinion, he’s a Hall of Fame guy who is at the later end of his career but is still putting up good production. For his role and what he’s done so far this year, pretty much stapled on the fourth line, second unit power play, he’s produced pretty well.”

Perry has 18 points (10 goals, eight assists) in 53 games for the Oilers this season. Edmonton hosts the Colorado Avalanche on Friday (9 p.m. ET; TVAS, SNW, ALT, KUSA) in its last game before the 4 Nations Face-Off, which will be held Feb. 12-20 at Bell Centre in Montreal and TD Garden in Boston.

The Oilers (34-16-4) are first in the Pacific Division, overtaking the Vegas Golden Knights with a 21-6-2 record in their past 29 games. Perry has contributed to the run with six goals and five assists during the stretch.

“He’s just so smart, I think that’s the main thing,” McDavid said. “He’s been around a really long time, and he’s seen just about everything there is to see in this League. He’s just so smart out there, the way he’s around the net, getting pucks off the wall, winning battles, that’s really impressive.”

Perry had long been a thorn in the side of the Oilers as a member of the Anaheim Ducks, where he played his first 14 seasons and won the Stanley Cup in 2007. He’s played in the Stanley Cup Final four times since, with the Dallas Stars (2020), Montreal Canadiens (2021), Tampa Bay Lightning (2022) and Oilers (2024).

He faced Edmonton while with the Ducks in the second round of the Stanley Cup Playoffs in 2017.

The Oilers are happy to have Perry on their side as they attempt to make another run at the Final, hoping to finish the job this season. Edmonton lost 2-1 in Game 7 of the Final against the Florida Panthers last season.

“It was not fun (playing against him). We played them in the playoffs and he’s just smart, he knows what he’s doing,” Draisaitl said. “His hockey IQ, in-game management, and with the puck is up there with the best that I’ve ever seen. We’re very fortunate to have him with us.”

Perry is still predominately used as a bottom-six forward with the Oilers but moving him up to play on the top line temporarily says a lot of how highly he is regarded in Edmonton.

Perry was on the ice late in a 6-on-5 situation with goalie Stuart Skinner pulled for an extra attacker when Draisaitl scored to tie the game against the Blues before Connor Brown won it 3-2 in overtime on a setup from McDavid.

“Every player has their own attributes, things that they bring to the game. His is in the offensive zone and at his age, it’s still pretty good,” Knoblauch said. “A couple of things that help those guys (McDavid and Draisaitl) is having an intelligent player getting them the puck. I think that is the most important thing. He’s a player those guys are comfortable playing with, just because he’s smart and he’ll go to the net and continue plays.”

Perry has made a career of going to the net and subjecting himself to the pounding associated with that area of the ice. He continues to be a nuisance to opposing goalies around the League.

“It’s hard, you take a beating in there, there are big D-men that punish you for going into those areas,” McDavid said. “[Perry] is good at it, [Zach Hyman] is good at it, we have some good net-front guys, we just have to try and get the puck there for them.”

Having been a top-six forward for so long in his career, Perry understands what it takes to play with talented players. His legs may not be what they once were, but his hockey sense is as good as it has always been, and his hands are still there.

In 1,364 NHL games with the Ducks, Stars, Lightning, Chicago Blackhawks and Oilers, he has 923 points (439 goals, 484 assists).

“It’s pretty simple, get pucks back to them, get to the front of the net and get open,” Perry said. “They’re going to make plays, they’re going to have the puck and make plays with the puck and it’s those second opportunities that you can create that breaks the other team down, and that’s the main thing.”

Playing with the two stars in their prime has been a delight for Perry, who signed as a free agent with Oilers on Jan. 22, 2024, and then signed a one-year, $1.4 million contract on July 1, 2024, to stay with Edmonton, McDavid and Draisaitl.

“You see what they do each and every day, you see it in practice what they can do, and you have defensemen laughing, because they’re shaking their head, they don’t know what else to do against them,” Perry said. “That’s the fun part, is watching them continue to get better. I don’t know how that’s possible, but each and every day they push themselves to get better.”

Perry himself is approaching the season one day at time, looking to improving his game and continuing to contribute to Edmonton’s cause this season.

“I just come to the rink every day and put in my work and let my play do all the talking. I don’t set goals for myself because if you don’t achieve them it looks like a down season,” he said. “I come in thinking about playing hockey each and every night and playing my game and see where the chips fall. So far, it’s been good. There is still a lot of work to be done obviously, and you keep pushing each and every day and you never know where this can go.”