The Kings are signing winger Corey Perry, TSN’s Bob McKenzie said on the network’s TV coverage of free agency today. It’s a one-year, bonus-laden contract for the 40-year-old, per McKenzie. Furthermore, Frank Seravalli adds that the Kings are also expected to sign Joel Armia. It’s a two-year deal for him, per Pierre LeBrun of TSN and The Athletic. LeBrun adds it’s a $2.5MM cap hit for Armia. The team confirmed both deals and a $2MM cap hit for Perry with an additional $2MM in potential performance bonuses.
This news will be headlined by Perry’s journey to yet another Pacific Division team. He was a legendary feature of the early-2000s Anaheim Ducks, even joining the squad on their run to the 2007 Stanley Cup. Perry was the gut punch backing Ryan Getzlaf’s jab – a role he filled for 14 seasons behind the Ducks captain. Perry recorded multiple impressive seasons across that span, routinely rivaling north of 30 goals and nearly 100 penalty minutes even through challenges with injury.
His career year stands proudly as the 2010-11 campaign, when he amassed 50 goals and 98 points, to go along with a staggering 104 penalty minutes. Perry led the NHL in goals, ranked fifth in total points, and was one of 43 players to record over 100 penalty minutes. He also led the league in even-strength goals, with 32. That red-hot season was enough to earn Perry the Hart Trophy as league MVP and the Rocket Richard Trophy as top scorer. It was one of many dominant seasons that led him to 372 goals, 776 points, and 1,110 penalty minutes over the course of 988 games in Anaheim. He remains the club’s all-time leader in penalty minutes, and top-three in all-time goals and points.
But while Perry will long be remembered for his time in Anaheim, he’s blazed an impressive career since leaving the club in the 2019-20 season, at the age of 34. That year kicked off a string of short-term stops across the league, including one year in Dallas, Montreal, and Chicago, as well as two years in Tampa Bay. He was never able to rediscover his flashy mix of goals and penalty minutes. He instead leaned heavily on the grinder role, even amassing 95 penalty minutes in 81 games of the 2021-22 season with the Lightning.
Perry seemed set on filling a stout, bottom-end role through the remainder of his career, until an unexpected split with the Blackhawks opened the door for him to join the Edmonton Oilers partway through the 2023-24 campaign. He finished that season with fairly quiet totals – 13 points in 38 games with the Oilers – but found a much stronger stride back to offense this season. Perry finished the year with 19 goals and 30 points in 81 games. He finished the year ranked fifth on the team in goals and eighth in points. He then climbed to fifth on the team in scoring during the 2025 playoffs, where he filled a pivotal role en route to 10 goals and 14 points in 22 games.
Perry will enter the 2025-26 season at 40 years old. He’s shown a persistent ability to contribute to the lineup and showed no signs of slowing down in Edmonton’s recent run to a Cup Final elimination. Even then, he doesn’t seem to be an assured bet for more than lofty penalty minutes and a third-line role. His grit could be exactly what the Kings need behind a skilled top-six.
The same can be said for Armia, who joins the team as a stout bet for bottom-six center after filling that role for the last seven years in Montreal. Armia challenged his career-high in scoring this year, with 11 goals and 29 points in 81 games, falling just shy of the 30 points in 58 games he managed in 2019-20. He added to his stat line this season a comfortable minus-two and only 16 penalty minutes. Armia stands at an imposing 6-foot-3, 216 pounds, but his 87 hits this season didn’t rank in even the top-1o of Canadiens players. Instead, Armia earned his keep through fluid plays and a drive into the low slot on both ends of the ice. He’s a diligent forward who has amassed 586 career appearances across 11 years in the NHL. He’s scored 103 goals and 207 points in those appearances. That should be hardy enough to command a bottom-end role, likely rotating through the third and fourth line, in the Kings’ system.
Photo courtesy of Charles LeClaire-USA TODAY Sports.
I don’t hate it. He basically punches a ticket to the finals. Let’s just hope he plays well! GKG
He punches a ticket to the finals? Lol.
LA is worse today than yesterday. Didn’t think that was possible, but…
It’s all good – this will put them in the Cup finals just unfortunately with a loss
How are they worse? Armia is a great penalty killer and Perry was one of the best oilers in the playoffs but sure
Perry was only good cause he played with mcdavid on the power play lol
These moves are not difference makers (in a good way).
Perry is old and broken down.
The defense is but that will be addressed. The forward group is way better and it’s delusional to say otherwise. Perry and Armia in Jeannot out is worse?
I was speaking about Perry, He’s old, Broken down, And he just can’t let go, He’s also not a leader, Based on his egregious behavior with the Blackhawks. His play will fall of a cliff by the middle of November.
That ain’t gonna save you from the Oilers, LAK?
The Oilers can’t get out of there own way. And they now have one of the worst GMs in the entire league.
Armia is good depth piece.
Corey Perry is making the rounds, that’s for sure. If Perry can produce what he did this past season, it’s a nice pick up for Los Angeles. Unfortunately, he just can’t get that second Cup on his resume.
Los Angeles also getting Joel Armia is a nice get as he’s an effective player with good puck possession, solid PK guy, has a physical presence and can provide some secondary scoring.
I get the feeling they are going to stay away from big contracts and make a run at McDavid next year assuming he does not sign an extension with the Oilers at some point.
This was unexpected. Maybe a trade is in the works? Still need 2 good defensemen and a backup goalie!
Perry is a bum. Just retire already.
LA needs to stop acting like a second tier franchise. Better decision makers, proactive moves, healthy farm system.
Well the Dodgers ownership is looking to purchase the team, which could be a blessing as they expect a winning culture. They do not shy away from making the headlines either.
Gonna be real hard to root for LA when Perry is on the ice. Just like it was when Sean Avery was here.
My outlook is this, he is willing to go to the dirty areas, which this team needs. I could see him on the 2nd PP unit.
Well, I do think the Kings are worse now than they were. But I also thought that this time last year and they just had the best regular season they’ve had in years. So, I guess we’ll see!
Yeah, but it’s about the post season.
Well, the biggest issue with the Kings was their lack of depth. Their top six is pretty good, but now they have some legitimate grit and reliability on that fourth line. So, in that way it’s a definite upgrade. Defense is where they’ve gotten worse, but it’s still early so let’s see what happens. I hate Corey Perry so I’m really not happy about that and I loved Gavi so that sucks too but it is what it is.
Jeannot, Spence and Gavrikov out and Perry and Armina in is definitely worse. Meanwhile, Vegas goes all in (again) and goes and gets Marner.
As a Kings fan of 45+ years… I’m not sure how I feel about this team anymore. Everyone had their reasons for hating Blake, I get that. But these moves that Holland has made are BRUTAL. (Ceci, Armia, Dumolin, Forsberg)
I don’t feel this moves the needle at all in the right direction. Perry, in a Kings sweater? Barf!
Whatevs, that’s showbiz. See ya’ all in the Fall.
This is a lot of hate for a guy who had a good season and a better playoff.