Ducks buy out Corey Perry, making him a free agent

Following a few weeks of rumours and speculation, the Anaheim Ducks made it official on Wednesday: the club is parting ways with Corey Perry.

Anaheim reportedly tried to secure a trade for the 34-year-old winger over the past few weeks, but only had a handful of teams to deal with due to Perry’s no-movement clause, forcing Anaheim’s hand into buying out the final two years of his contract.

Here’s the salary implications for the Ducks, per CapFriendly:

Perry, drafted 28th overall by the team in 2003, played nearly 1,000 games with the franchise, picking up a Hart Trophy and Rocket Richard Trophy in 2011 while also leading the Ducks to a Stanley Cup title in 2007.

To say this was a tough decision by GM Bob Murray is a major understatement.

Though he’s proven to be a steadily declining asset over the past couple seasons and just trudged his way through an injury-tested campaign where he posted the lowest games (31) and points (10) totals of his career, a motivated, healthy Perry granted a fresh start could be a very appealing asset for many clubs looking for scoring and sandpaper on the wing.

That is to say a $2-3 million per season Corey Perry is exponentially more appealing than an $8-million-plus-Corey Perry, especially if you believe someone with that many miles on his odometer has another 20-25-goal season left in the tank.

Whether he actually does have anything left, though, is largely up for debate and something we won’t know until well into next season.

Perry is eligible to sign wherever he wants on July 1.

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