Have Oilers discovered great candidate to bring what Perry and Kane brought?
I was recently reminded of this rule when I looked at the Oilers hard plays on Grade A shots in the 2024 playoffs. As strong as Corey Perry was this playoff season, he was weak last season. This was reflected in his lack of ability to force scoring chances.
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In 19 playoff games last year, Perry made just two hard plays to help create Grade A shots, a far cry from his 28 in 22 games this year.
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Last playoff season I advocated for Perry to take a spot in the pressbox. Based on his declining play last season, I was iffy about the Oilers bringing him back. But my Cult colleague Bruce McCurdy noted that it was a near certainty Perry was playing hurt in the 2024 playoffs. McCurdy recalled a major collision late in the regular season and said Perry wasn't the same after that.
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But Perry answered any doubt I had with a solid regular season in 2024-25, then an excellent playoff run.
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If Perry can recover from injury and put up a great playoff run at age 39, Frederic is certainly capable of doing so at age 27.
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Frederic is a big, tough, aggressive forward, with a willingness to fight and hit. The Oilers will need him at full throttle to win the Cup.
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Tough physical players from Mark Messier to Kevin McClelland, from Raffi Torres to Chris Pronger, from Evander Kane to Zach Human have always been a huge part of any Stanley Cup playoff success the Oilers have had.
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The team is short on such players just now, but not if Frederic steps up. I'm betting that Stan Bowman and the Oilers scouts did their homework this time and that Frederic is an excellent candidate to bring much of what Perry and Kane brought in the coming 2026 playoffs, should the Oilers make it that far, and should Frederic, this time, be healthy.
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