July 01, 2025
Walter Tychnowicz/Imagn Images
Corey Perry scored 10 playoff goals in the Oilers' run to the Stanley Cup Final this past spring.
There appears to be a veteran name on the Flyers' radar just over a couple of hours ahead of the start of NHL free agency.
Corey Perry, the 40-year-old winger who has been to (but lost) the Stanley Cup Final in five of the past six seasons, is "believed to have interest" from the Philadelphia, per Sportsnet insider Elliotte Friedman in his Tuesday morning 32 Thoughts column.
Word of the Flyers' interest in Perry was also reinforced by OnPattison and Snow The Goalie's Anthony SanFilippo, but through both reports, the chances of a deal actually being reached seemed uncertain.
Perry is heading toward a 21st NHL season, and in the Flyers' situation, he would likely serve as the senior presence to the team's younger players, much like how veteran defensemen Erik Johnson and Eric Staal did in the previous two seasons.
For budding forward names like Matvei Michkov, Tyson Foerster, Noah Cates, and Bobby Brink, having Perry's experience around could be a major benefit to their ongoing development, as he's been through just about any circumstance in the NHL you could think of.
MORE: A big draft leads right into a curious free agency period for the Flyers
He won the Stanley Cup early in his career with Anaheim, then lost a lot of them later on. He's won the Rocket Richard and Hart Trophies as the league's leading scorer and MVP, then adapted into a depth checker as he got up there in age to keep carving out valued roles for multiple teams.
The trick of whether he'd want one with the Flyers, though, could likely come down to how much he wants a shot at winning one more Cup before he finally hangs them up.
One more point of note: Porter Martone, the Flyers' sixth overall draft pick from this weekend, did mention that Perry and Florida Panthers star Matthew Tkachuk were some of the influences he tries to model his game after.
That might be a factor in the Flyers' reported interest in Perry, too.
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