Oilers’ Gamesmanship Issues Can Be Traced Back To One Significant Move

It’s one thing to lose games. It’s another to lose your edge and gamesmanship. And right now, the Edmonton Oilers have lost both — and it all circles back to one offseason decision that looks worse by the day. In an effort to ensure the team had enough money to give Evan Bouchard his $10.5 million contract extension this summer, the Oilers boxed themselves out of keeping a player whose presence mattered far more in the trenches — Corey Perry.

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Forget that Bouchard is having a tough season. The fact is, he can be elite, and he’s immensely skilled; far more than Perry. But Perry brought something Bouchard doesn’t — tenacity with the volume turned up.

Edmonton’s management team of Stan Bowman (GM) and Jeff Jackson (CEO) prioritized flexibility and getting younger and faster. The team would have liked to have retained Corey Perry, but they also figured they could always find “grit” later. That cap maneuvering decision ended up costing them something that analytics can’t measure: gamesmanship and swagger.

Perry, 40, may have been aging, but he was the heartbeat of their bench when things got heavy. He was the guy who would yell at the opposition — and even his own teammates, if warranted. Known affectionately as The Worm, Perry brought an edge. He was the kind of player you hated playing against, but loved when he was on your team. His toughness and borderline chaos made Edmonton more difficult to play against.

Now? The Oilers are faster and more skilled, but are polite, predictable, and too easy to push around.

The Cap Domino Effect Led to Perry’s Exit

According to multiple reports, Perry’s camp had requested a small raise to stay in Edmonton, but he wanted to stay. He wasn’t asking for the sun and moon, but he’d proven he was worth a bit more, given that he’d produced 19 goals and 30 points in 81 games. All it would have taken was around $2 million deal and some performance bonuses tied to games played (the exact kind of deal the Los Angeles Kings offered.

That would’ve been manageable had the Oilers not gone to the wall on Evan Bouchard’s $10.5 million deal. Instead of holding firm and negotiating under $10 million, Edmonton folded. Perry walked.

As the Oilers are learning this season and as Darnell Nurse mentioned after the team’s practice Sunday morning, losing gamers can ripple through a locker room. Nurse believes guys like Perry left lessons behind for future Oilers to take with them moving forward, but it doesn’t appear anyone has.

Perry Is Thriving With the Kings

Today, Perry’s thriving with the Los Angeles Kings, racking up seven goals and 11 points in just 10 games. For perspective, he’s scored more goals than six Oilers forwards combined — Trent Frederic, Adam Henrique, Kasperi Kapanen, David Tomasek, Matt Savoie, and Curtis Lazar — who collectively cost over $11 million in cap space.

Frederic alone makes more than Perry, and there’s real chatter about how little Frederic has embraced the role Perry and guys like Evander Kane used to fill.

No Bite, No Pushback, No “Mad”

As veteran reporter Jim Matheson of the Edmonton Journal put it, “The most disturbing thing about the Oilers getting their butts kicked by the Avalanche: no mad in their game, no fights, no nothing. Just go quietly into the night. Corey Perry wouldn’t have put up with this.”

He’s right. Edmonton’s issue isn’t just system-based or defensive coverage — it’s psychological. Perry’s departure, along with Kane being traded and Connor Brown signed by the New Jersey Devils, has gutted the club of its more aggressive in-your-face players. These were players who either annoyed and provoked a team with their words or drove other teams crazy with their tenacious play.

What’s left is a lineup that has been described as deflated, lacking urgency, and emotionally flat.

The Oilers need to rediscover their edge — and it might require GM Stan Bowman to swallow some pride and start looking for a Perry replacement. If the Kings fall out of the playoff race, perhaps Perry himself.

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