Breaking: Corey Perry has agreed to brand new deal.

This was a moment I never truly expected to come to fruition.

For all intents and purposes it seemed like veteran forward Corey Perry was destined to be a member of the Anaheim Ducks franchise for the remainder of his career in the National Hockey League. Perry had after all been a lifelong member of the Ducks and was arguably the most recognizable face on that entire roster, but that all changed this summer off the heels of a catastrophic season for the Ducks.

The team looked, for lack of a better term, old and slow throughout the season and when head coach Randy Carlyle was fired during the regular season it became abundantly clear that there were some major changes on the horizon. That was confirmed when the Ducks made a surprising, if entirely reasonable, decision to buyout the contract of Corey Perry, leaving him an unrestricted free agent for the very first time in his NHL career. 

Well it appears now that Monday will mark another first for the long time NHL forward as TSN NHL insider Frank Seravalli is now reporting that Perry will sign a deal with a team not named the Ducks for the very first time in his career. Seravalli reports that Perry and the Dallas Stars have agreed to terms on a 1 year contract that will pay Perry $1.5 million dollars, a massive drop in pay that he was making prior to the buyout. Perry was of course earning a whopping $8.625 million on his deal with the Ducks, so this truly is a drastic drop in salary.

Keeping that in mind the move here from Perry would appear to have motivating factors, although I must admit I am just speculating here. I suspect that the 1 year term is a way for Perry to gamble on himself, a strong performance this season could see him earn a better deal next summer, while I also suspect that he did this to maximize his chances of winning a Stanley Cup. Another big time NHL star has been linked to the Dallas Stars this evening and you have to imagine that Perry coming in at such a low number only helped that deal become a reality.