Corey Perry (born May 16, 1985) is a Canadian professional ice hockey player who is a winger for the Los Angeles Kings of the National Hockey League (NHL). He played the first 14 years of his career with the Anaheim Ducks where he won the Stanley Cup in 2007. He has also played for the Dallas Stars, Montreal Canadiens, Chicago Blackhawks, Edmonton Oilers and Tampa Bay Lightning.
Perry is known for his goal-scoring ability and an abrasive playing style with an ability to get under his opponent's skin. The former earned him the affectionate nickname "Scorey Perry"; the latter the less affectionate "the Worm".
He won the Memorial Cup with the Ontario Hockey League (OHL)'s London Knights and a gold medal with Canada at the World Junior Championships during his major junior career. Perry was drafted in the first round, 28th overall, by the Mighty Ducks of Anaheim in the 2003 NHL entry draft and won the Stanley Cup with the club in 2007. In 2008, he recorded 29 goals and 25 assists. He improved in 2009 to 72 points and was named to his first NHL All-Star Game. Perry continued his ascent in 2010 as he scored 27 goals and had 49 assists. In 2011, he won the Hart Memorial Trophy as the league's most valuable player for the 2010–11 season. He led the NHL with 50 goals and finished third in points behind Daniel Sedin and Martin St. Louis, with 98. During his two one-year campaigns with the Dallas Stars and Montreal Canadiens respectively, Perry lost consecutive Stanley Cup Finals to the Tampa Bay Lightning in 2020 and 2021; Perry proceeded to join the Lightning the very next season, where he lost a third straight Final series in 2022, and in doing so became the first player in NHL history to lose three consecutive Final series with three different teams. Perry then returned to the Final for a fifth and sixth time with the Oilers in 2024 and 2025, losing both times, becoming the first player in NHL history to reach the Final with five different franchises, and the first player in NHL history to lose four Final series with four different teams.
Internationally, Perry has won gold medals with Canada at the 2010 and 2014 Winter Olympics. He became a member of the Triple Gold Club after captaining Canada to gold at the 2016 World Championship, in addition to previously winning the Stanley Cup and the Olympic gold medal. Perry is only the second player (joining Scott Niedermayer) to combine Triple Gold membership with gold at the World Junior Championships, a Memorial Cup win, and a World Cup of Hockey win.
Perry was born on May 16, 1985, in New Liskeard, Ontario, the first of two boys born to Geoff and Nancy Perry. He and his brother Adam learned to skate when Corey was two. At age 10, he and his family moved from Haileybury, Ontario, to Peterborough, Ontario. Growing up, his favourite NHL team was the Montreal Canadiens.
Perry grew up playing hockey with the Peterborough Minor Petes AAA organization of the OMHA's Eastern AAA league. In 2001, Perry led his Petes to a victory in the inaugural OHL Cup Bantam AAA championship held in Peterborough. Perry had a stellar year offensively, scoring 73 goals in 67 games.
After a standout minor hockey career, Perry was drafted fifth overall into the Ontario Hockey League (OHL) by the London Knights in the 2001 Priority Draft. He immediately produced at a point-per-game pace for the Knights, recording 59 points in 60 games in his rookie season. The following year, his NHL entry draft year, Perry improved to 78 points and was selected 28th overall in the 2003 NHL entry draft by the Mighty Ducks of Anaheim.
In the 2003–04 season, Perry scored 40 goals and 73 assists for 113 points in just 66 games, becoming the first Knight to reach 100 points in a season since Jason Allison did so in 1994. During the season, the Ducks were considering trading Perry to the Edmonton Oilers for Mike Comrie. The Oilers agreed to acquire Perry for Comrie, though there was one snag in the deal; Edmonton general manager Kevin Lowe felt that Comrie should return $2.5 million of his salary. Comrie ultimately refused to do so and the trade subsequently fell through. In the OHL playoffs, Perry scored seven more goals, with his offensive prowess earning him a call-up to the Ducks' American Hockey League (AHL) affiliate, the Cincinnati Mighty Ducks, for the remainder of the 2003–04 season. Perry was later named an OHL first-team All-Star after the season.
Entering his fourth and final year with the Knights in 2004–05, Perry scored a junior career-high 130 points in 60 games. He went on to post an additional 38 points in the postseason to capture the J. Ross Robertson Cup as OHL champions, en route to a Memorial Cup championship. In 18 postseason games, Perry scored 11 goals and handed out 27 assists. The Knights shut-out Sidney Crosby's Rimouski Océanic in the final.
Perry made his debut with the Ducks the following season, in 2005–06. However, he was sent down to the AHL early in the year, along with fellow rookie and future linemate Ryan Getzlaf. Perry scored his first career goal against the Edmonton Oilers on October 10, 2005, managing to score a point in each of his first four career games. He recorded his first career multi-goal game against the Los Angeles Kings on January 28, 2006. Perry and Getzlaf combined for 67 points in 36 games with the Portland Pirates – the Ducks' new AHL affiliate – and were subsequently recalled by the Ducks ahead of the team's run in the 2006 playoffs. Perry finished his rookie season with the Ducks with 25 points (13 goals, 12 assists) in 56 games.
In the playoffs, Perry scored no goals but managed three assists as the Ducks were eliminated in the Western Conference Final to the eighth seeded Edmonton Oilers.
In 2006–07, his sophomore season, Perry improved to 44 points (17 goals, 27 assists) in all 82 games, playing with Ryan Getzlaf and Dustin Penner on a combination dubbed the "Kid Line". He went on in the 2007 playoffs to win the Stanley Cup with Anaheim, scoring 15 points (six goals, nine assists) in 21 games. He assisted on a goal by Ryan Getzlaf in game one against the Ottawa Senators in the Final while in game three, he scored a goal on Senators’ goaltender Ray Emery that helped the Ducks take the lead. After the Senators tied the score, Perry assisted on Getzlaf's goal as the Ducks took the lead again. However, the Senators scored the last three goals of the game and won 5–3. In the final game, Perry scored a goal and had an assist on a goal by Rob Neidermayer. Anaheim went on to win the next two games, securing its first-ever Stanley Cup.
The following year, in 2007–08, Perry increased his totals to 29 goals, 25 assists and 54 points in 70 games and was named to his first NHL All-Star Game as an injury replacement (along with Scott Niedermayer) to join Chris Pronger and Ryan Getzlaf as four Ducks on the Western Conference squad. Perry also made Ducks history during the season – on January 4, 2008, in a game against the Chicago Blackhawks, he scored a goal just 16 seconds into the game, the second fastest goal ever scored by a Duck. Despite the personal successes of the year, the defending Stanley Cup champion Ducks were unable to replicate the previous year's playoff success, falling to the fifth seeded Dallas Stars in the first round of the 2008 playoffs in six games. Perry played in three games and had two goals and an assist.
On July 1, 2008, Perry signed a five-year, $26.625 million contract extension, identical to a contract Ryan Getzlaf had agreed to the previous off-season. The 2008–09 season was a break-out year for Perry. He led the Ducks with 32 goals and finished second on the team in points, with 72. On November 1, 2008, he recorded five points in a game against the Vancouver Canucks, four of which were assists, a career-high. However, on January 3, 2009, Perry was suspended for four games by the NHL after elbowing Philadelphia Flyers forward Claude Giroux during the third period of a game on January 2. Perry finished the regular season scoring four goals in the year's last five games. Continuing his scoring streak, he then contributed eight goals and six assists during the 2009 playoffs that saw the Ducks advance to game seven of the Western Conference semifinals against the defending Stanley Cup champion Detroit Red Wings, who ultimately ended the Ducks' season after their game seven victory. Perry scored the Ducks' second goal of that game. In game one, Perry scored a goal, but the Ducks lost 3–2, while the Ducks won game two as Perry contributed two assists. After recording no points in a Ducks win in game three, Perry scored two goals and also recorded an assist in game four, but the Ducks lost 6–3. In game seven, the Ducks lost the game, with Perry scoring a goal and providing an assist.