Perry joins Lightning on 2-year deal

The Tampa Bay Lightning signed unrestricted free-agent forward Corey Perry to a two-year contract with an average annual value of $1 million, the team announced Thursday.

Perry signed one-year contracts in each of the previous two offseasons, joining the Dallas Stars in 2019 and Montreal Canadiens in 2020. Both moves resulted in losses in the Stanley Cup Final at the hands of the Lightning.

The 36-year-old proved he's still an effective player this past campaign, registering 21 points in 49 regular-season games before chipping in four goals and six assists during Montreal's improbable run to the Final.

Perry is one of the most accomplished players of his generation. The 2003 first-round pick has 818 points in 1094 career games. He's won a Stanley Cup, Hart Trophy, Maurice "Rocket" Richard Trophy, and two Olympic gold medals.

The Lightning had a combined cap hit of over $85 million against the NHL's $81.5-million limit before bringing Perry aboard, according to Cap Friendly. Tampa Bay already offloaded the contracts of Yanni Gourde and Tyler Johnson this offseason and has more work to do to become cap compliant before the start of the 2021-22 campaign in October.