Report: Four teams linked to former NHL MVP Corey Perry

It’s been a week since Corey Perry has bought out of the remaining two years of his contract by the Anaheim Ducks, but it appears that the former Hart Trophy winner will have some options come July 1st.

The pending unrestricted free agent has reportedly received interest from four NHL teams, but cannot sign a new deal until the free agent period opens up on July 1st. NHL insider Elliotte Friedman reports that the Montreal Canadiens, Pittsburgh Penguins, Dallas Stars and Nashville Predators could all be in the mix to sign Perry.

Check out this nugget from Friedman’s latest 31 Thoughts column for Sportsnet:

Hearing Montreal and Pittsburgh are on Corey Perry’s radar, with Dallas and possibly Nashville among contenders, too. 

Interesting. With Perry it really comes down to where his health lies. Is he healthy enough to be a regular contributor?

“When I came back, maybe I wasn’t totally ready,” Perry said to TSN’s Frank Seravalli last week. “I had surgery on Sept. 28. It was a six-month recovery and I was back in four months.”

The good new is that Perry has an offseason plan that he feels will get him back to his old self:

“I’m doing a lot more already than in previous years,” Perry said. “When you go in to a new team, you want to go in at your best. You have to make your own way, new teammates, new coaches, and earn your respect. I’m going to go in with a purpose.”

On what his next team can expect:

“I am that pesky, in-your-face guy who will be in and score goals in the dirty areas,” Perry said. “That’s who I am. That’s who I’ll always be.”