Photo credit: The Hockey News

It was announced that former Blackhawks forward Corey Perry received a performance bonus of $50,000 after his team made it to the Stanley Cup finals, which in turn put the Oilers further into cap hell next year.

Perry’s contract which was signed on February 22nd by the Oilers awarded him an additional $50,000 in bonuses if the team were to make it to the Stanley Cup finals. That bonus will now be added to their overage penalty which will fall into next year’s cap hit which stands at $3.55 million.

The Oilers cap situation going into next year is certainly precarious and a form of cap hell as the team only has $9.7 million in cap space and have 14 players signed.

It’s likely this roster will not look the same going into next season as many questions surround general manager Ken Holland’s contract which will expire at the end of the year and who may be his replacement if he decides to retire. The Oilers face several major contracts including Leon Draisaitl, Evan Bouchard and Connor McDavid in two years.

After his termination with the Blackhawks, Perry waited a few months before he re emerged into the new cycle and the NHL to which general manager Ken Holland of the Oilers decided to make the signing.

The Oilers felt that Perry would bring much needed playoff experience and Stanley Cup final experience as he has gone to several during his career and won the Cup in 2007 with the Anaheim Ducks.

Recently however, his play dipped, and he was a healthy scratch through the first few games of the Western Conference final which led many to believe that he may be done as a player in the league.

That was not the case as he was in the last two games of the final and is set to join the roster for game one of the Stanley Cup finals which will take place on Saturday June 8th at 8:00 PM eastern.