Last season there were 43 players who cleared the 100 penalty minute plateau. Out of those 43 players, 29 cleared ten points, 15 cleared twenty, five hit or cleared fifty and only three players were north of 60. One special player, in a monstrous breakout year, hit a whopping 98 points and was the second-ranked player in Yahoo rotisserie pools last season. His name – Corey Perry.
We all know Perry’s level of skill and style of game, which date back to his very productive junior days. With his in-your-face, gritty playing style and his ability to produce points, Perry is a rotisserie monster and comes with an affordable $5.325 million cap hit. Perry has proven himself as very reliable, showing that he can score even when he’s without number one setup man Ryan Getzlaf, who has missed 31 games over the past two seasons.
Even with Anaheim’s slow start, Perry is on pace for 39 goals and 107 PIM – right around his five-year average in that category. On a current 66-point pace, his lowest in four years, Perry is still on track for stellar numbers in every other area. This includes power play points, which is a bit of a surprise considering Anaheim’s struggles to score and early loss of power play quarterback Lubomir Visnovsky. Once again this is a huge testament to Perry’s ability to produce on his own, always a peace of mind thing for fanatical poolies.
Adding to the peace of mind is Perry’s ability to score goals. Even in a low points-total season, Perry is a 50 goal threat. Utilizing Frozen Pool to list the top ten goal scorers in the past two and a half seasons puts Perry into elite company, sitting third on the list with 99 goals. We all know about his PIM prowess, but how does he compare in the other typical rotisserie categories? The table below compares Perry’s two and a half season averages to other elite players. Is he in the same company?
Player |
Goals |
Assists |
Points |
SOG |
PPP |
PIM |
Eric Staal |
26 |
41 |
68 |
283 |
23 |
60 |
Rick Nash |
31 |
31 |
62 |
293 |
17 |
46 |
Alex Ovechkin |
39 |
48 |
87 |
343 |
28 |
57 |
Evgeni Malkin |
34 |
49 |
84 |
324 |
29 |
65 |
Daniel Sedin |
38 |
62 |
100 |
279 |
34 |
43 |
Steven Stamkos |
50 |
41 |
91 |
284 |
32 |
62 |
Corey Perry |
38 |
42 |
80 |
283 |
27 |
10 |
Perry’s point and assist totals are dragged down a bit by his rough start to the season, but it can be argued that status is more reflective on the performance of his teammates than it is on himself, who has been Anaheim’s most consistent producer thus far. His 66-point pace is more of an anomaly than anything as he hasn’t posted anything below 72 points since 2007-08. The assists will come as his team improves – especially if AHL sniper Kyle Palmieri manages to translate his goal-scoring game to the NHL level.
Palmieri has an astounding 25 goals in 26 AHL games. Combine that with the incredible pace WHL and USA junior star Emersem Etem is on with 45 goals in 65 games, and the Ducks are in store to receive some grade "A" help in the near future. Perry’s assists could come by default in the future.
Poolies should count on Perry for 35 goals, 75 points and peripherals padded enough to break a Ron Jeremy fall from "stardom." Banking on more 40+ goal seasons than 35 isn’t unrealistic and PPG status is well within reach. If you are hosting that type of production on your roster while happily advertising all that leftover real estate for other, more expensive players, then you’re well on your way to a competitive season.
Player |
Cost per goal avg |
Cost per assist avg |
Cost per point avg |
Cost per SOG avg |
Cost per PPP avg |
Cost per PIM avg |
Eric Staal |
$317,308 |
$201,219 |
$121,324 |
$29,152 |
$358,695 |
$137,500 |
Rick Nash |
$251,612 |
$251,612 |
$125,826 |
$26,621 |
$458,823 |
$169,564 |
Alex Ovechkin |
$244,576 |
$198,717 |
$109,637 |
$27,809 |
$340,659 |
$167,341 |
Evgeni Malkin |
$255,882 |
$177,551 |
$103,571 |
$26,851 |
$300,000 |
$133,846 |
Daniel Sedin |
$160,526 |
$98,387 |
$61,000 |
$21,864 |
$179,412 |
$141,860 |
Steven Stamkos |
$150,000 |
$182,926 |
$82,416 |
$26,408 |
$234,375 |
$120,968 |
Corey Perry |
$140,131 |
$126,785 |
$66,562 |
$18,816 |
$197,222 |
$49,766 |
At an incredibly low $5.325 million cap hit for this season and next, Perry is a bargain and a half. With another 50 goal season or two, it’s not far off to suggest that Perry could challenge for the title of the most efficient cap player to own. There simply isn’t any other player with similar upside who is going to stuff the stat sheet as consistently, or as well, as Corey Perry.
Acquire him, own him, appreciate him, love him, pray to him and grovel at his feet. Might as well, ‘cuz Perry just might be your savior. At the very least he’ll be a stud, challenging "Studly" Steven Stamkos for the number two ranking.