The Edmonton Oilers need a whole lot more from Corey Perry

The Edmonton Oilers’ second-round performance thus far can only be described as a mixed bag.

Their star players have shown up to play, with Leon Draisaitl, Connor McDavid, Zach Hyman, and Evan Bouchard all contributing significantly offensively, while their defense has held down the fort when they needed to. Unfortunately, some of their depth players and goaltending have been iffy to say the least. 

No one fits that bill of underperforming more than Corey Perry, who must have thrown on his camouflage jersey once the playoffs started. Billed as one of the keys to playoff success, Perry simply needs to provide just a bit more to get the team through this series.

Perry’s performance problems 

Although he has provided some meme-worthy moments, Perry has played in all nine games this postseason and has zero goals, zero assists, and is a -2 with six PIMs. Now typically as a bottom-six forward, the expectation is not set at a point-per-game player. That being said, the reason the Oilers brought in Perry was to bolster their depth scoring in the postseason. 

Essentially, the specific role that the team signed Perry for is not being fulfilled.

Now Perry is not averaging enough ice time, nor has he been deployed in a beneficial role. He’s splitting his time evenly in terms of offensive and defensive zone starts, meaning he’s being used in almost all situations. His 5v5 ice time is also seventh among forwards, meaning outside of the heavily used top six, he’s right up on top in terms of how much time he spends on the ice. 

That being said, his linemates are also perhaps not the best fit for him during the postseason. Perry has often been lined up with Dylan Holloway and Ryan McLeod but recently has had Warren Foegle on his left side. You do have to wonder if the playoff inexperience of his linemates has influenced his ability to produce offensively.

It would also be hard to see where Perry could elevate himself in the lineup as well. He’s not going to make the first line, but it’s even hard to see how he would jump into the second line as well. It’s interesting to ponder if Adam Henrique was healthy and in the lineup if playing alongside him would help benefit his play. In a small 5v5 sample size, early results wouldn’t back that up as the duo had a CF% of 30% together, but it’s worth a try.

At the end of the day, if the Oilers want to succeed in this round and the rest of the postseason, they will need a proven playoff performer to produce. That is Perry to a tee.