It seems like ages ago now that Arturri Lehkonen scored the Montreal Canadiens’ overtime series-winning goal on Quebec’s National Day no less. That night, the Canadiens won their first and only Clarence Campbell Bowl. This is one more than the Toronto Maple Leafs won, even though they spent six seasons in the Western Conference after it started using the trophy to crown the conference’s playoff champions.
But I digress. In June 2021, there were watch parties everywhere in Quebec and les Cowboys Fringants even did a live show on Facebook to celebrate the Canadiens finally making it back to the Cup Final for the first time since 1993. That night, Brett Kulak and Corey Perry celebrated with their teammates dreaming of another meaningful celebration a couple of weeks later, but it wasn’t to be. On Saturday (June 8) both men will be wearing the Edmonton Oilers jersey when the puck drops on the Stanley Cup Final and they keep chasing the ultimate prize.
Kulak Trying to Win for His Hometown
Brett Kulak was born in Edmonton, the Oilers were his boyhood team, but in the fourth round (104th pick) of the 2012 Draft, it wasn’t them that called his name, but their arch-rivals and opponents in so many Battles of Alberta that it’s impossible to remember them all, the Calgary Flames. When you are drafted to play in the NHL though, it’s a dream come true no matter how much you hated the team who drafted you when you were a kid.
For four years, Kulak plied his trade in the Flames’ organization, making stops in the American Hockey League (AHL) and the ECHL but never giving up on his dream to make it to the NHL. In 2017-18, he finally spent most of the season in the NHL with the Flames competing in 71 games and gathering eight points in the process.
Before the start of the 2018-19 season, Kulak had to pack his bags for Montreal. Canadiens’ general manager Marc Bergevin had obtained his services in return for Rinat Valiev (a minor league player obtained in the Tomas Plekanec trade with the Toronto Maple Leafs who now plays in the Kontinental Hockey League) and Matt Taormina (another AHL player who spent 61 games in Laval before being included in that trade).
After arriving from Calgary, Kulak split his time between Laval and Montreal for the first season, but after that, he established himself as the seventh defenceman of the organization and never went back down to Laval. When the Canadiens took their ride to the Stanley Cup Final in the spring/summer of 2021, Kulak was along for the ride, and he had even played 13 games in the playoffs.
After four seasons and 215 matches with Montreal, Kulak was one of the first players traded by Kent Hughes who managed to send him home to Edmonton for William Lagesson, a second-round pick in 2022 (who turned out to be Lane Hutson thank you very much) and a 2024 seventh-round pick (which might not turn out as well as Hutson let’s face it), but talk about great asset management for a team starting its rebuild.
Still, the Oilers aren’t upset by that deal, Kulak has turned out to be a bit of a late bloomer, but he’s now comfortably installed in their top-four on the blue line and he even plays on his off-side. In the 2022 offseason, he signed a new four-year deal with Edmonton and it included a raise of almost $1 million with an average annual value (AAV) of $2.75 million. Now though, he could get something money can’t buy, winning a Stanley Cup as a member of his hometown team and celebrating it with family and friends right there and then. It doesn’t get much better than that.
Perry: Just One More Cup
Winning a Stanley Cup must be a fantastic feeling. Corey Perry won it once in his rookie season when he was just 20 years old and since then, he’s been chasing that second Cup ring with no luck. He’s been through a lot since then. He suffered a lot of bumps and bruises, was thrown the book at a few times for bad (or even dirty) hits and was bought out. He had won the Cup, he could have just retired but no, he wasn’t ready.
Perry sought a new team instead and signed at a reduced rate for one year with the Dallas Stars to keep on chasing that elusive second Cup and made it to the Final but lost. Then there was a pandemic, he could have just sat back and enjoyed his millions, but no, he kept on training and when activities resumed he was in game shape and signed a deal at the league minimum with the Canadiens, who put him on their taxi squad before realizing just how great of a leader he could be with their young players. Once again, he made it to the Final but fell at the last hurdle.
Legend has it that in the handshake line with the Tampa Bay Lightning, head coach Jon Cooper told him he’d like to have him on his team. Fast forward less than a month, and he signed a two-year deal with Tampa for $1 million AAV. He would reach the Final again, by Tampa was beaten by the Colorado Avalanche. Then prior to this season, the Chicago Blackhawks came knocking, they wanted a veteran presence for their rebuilding team and Perry parlayed the need into a one-year deal with a $4 million cap hit. However, his contract was terminated after a mysterious alleged misconduct. Did he go home taking his ball with him?
Perry didn’t, he got the league to clear him to return to action and found some work with the Oilers, accepting a league-minimum deal to keep the chase going. He’s there once again, the first player in NHL history to get to the Cup Final with five different teams. He’s now been part of four out of the last five Cup Finals, maybe this time will be the right one and he’ll finally earn a second ring. Who would have thought that someday, another player would make three Cup Finals in a row like Marian Hossa?
If he doesn’t win, does he keep going? Is there some kind of bet going on here? Or does he just need that victorious feeling once more before calling it a day? Whatever the reason, I know Perry won over a lot of Canadiens’ fans in 2021 and they’ll be cheering for him to get his second ring. Who knows, if he hits free agency he might end up taking the Maple Leafs to the Final next season…that would be a nightmare for plenty of Canadiens fans.
