Rumor: Corey Perry being linked to a Canadian NHL team.

There has not been a ton of talk surrounding unrestricted free agent Corey Perry following his buyout from the Anaheim Ducks, but as the free agency window is drawing closer and closer it seems the level of interest in Perry is increasing by leaps and bounds.

As per the latest reports it sounds like there may be as many as 10 teams with interest in the veteran forward, a surprising number given just how much Perry has declined in recent years. In spite of his decline however it sounds like teams that realize they are out of the running for the top free agents on the market have started to warm up to Perry, and that could be a very bad sign if you happen to be a fan of one of those franchises.

There's no question that Perry, a former 1st round pick (28th overall) at the 2003 NHL Entry Draft, brings with him a wealth of experience as well as an innate ability to crawl under the skin of his opponents  but there are legitimate questions about how much he has left in the tank. At 34 years old Perry is an old man in a young man's game and just so happens to be coming off arguably the worst season of his NHL career as well, but it sounds like some teams are still willing to gamble.

As for the identity of the teams involved? Well we have not heard anything on that front until earlier today, and now it sounds like that list of 10 interested teams may have been narrowed considerably. According to Sportsnet's National Hockey League insider John Shannon Perry is drawing "heavy" interest from "at least 4 teams" arounf the National Hockey League, with one of those teams being none other than the Edmonton Oilers. I don't need to remind you of the contract given to Oilers forward Milan Lucic not so long ago in free agency to remind you of how ugly this move could turn out to be for the Oilers, but I just did it anyways. 

I will say that Oilers general manager Ken Holland is in a tough spot here, it's clear that he has to add some offensive punch to help star forward Connor McDavid but it seems very unlikely the big free agents on the market will even consider Edmonton as a possibility. Perry would provide the Oilers with a solid option, one that would likely not be considered more than a backup plan by most NHL teams, but an option that would come with plenty of risk.