Corey Perry admits he thought about a potential future with the Toronto Maple Leafs back in 2013 prior to signing an eight-year, $69-million contract extension with the Anaheim Ducks.
“It would’ve been nice to go home and play in front of family and friends every night, but on the other side of things, you have to think about your life and how you want to live it,” Perry, a native of Peterborough, Ont., whose family resides in London, Ont., told the L.A. Times.
Perry was set to become an unrestricted free agent that summer and considered testing the open market but said he has no regrets about his decision to remain with the team that selected him 28th overall in the 2003 draft.
“This is the place where I wanted to stay, to live,” Perry added. “Everything’s going in the right direction with this organization. There’s a lot of depth here, and it definitely weighed in on what was going on.”
The 2011 Hart Memorial Trophy winner is in the second year of his contract and isn’t slated to become a free agent until 2021. The 29-year-old has 15 goals, nine assists in 28 games this season.
Perry’s Ducks host the Maple Leafs Wednesday on Sportsnet Ontario at 10 p.m. ET (NHL regional restrictions apply).
