There are a ton of storylines heading into the Stanley Cup Final rematch between the Florida Panthers and the Edmonton Oilers. One that hasn’t been talked about too much is the upcoming battle of the veteran pests, Brad Marchand and Corey Perry, who seemingly have found the fountain of youth and continue to thrive at the most important time of the year, the playoffs. Their style of getting under the opposition’s skin by any means necessary has fueled long and productive NHL careers – regular season and playoffs – and has established the duo as two of the most annoying players in hockey history. They are the definition of “players you hate playing against, but absolutely love having on your team”.
Related: THW’s Stanley Cup Final Hub
Let’s take a brief look at Marchand and Perry’s long journey to this point and how they have both contributed to the Panthers’ and Oilers’ spots in the Final once again.
Corey Perry, aka “The Worm”
Drafted 28th overall by the Anaheim Mighty Ducks back in 2003, Perry came into the league with a lot of hype around him after tearing up the Ontario Hockey League (OHL) with the London Knights. He was a prolific scorer and point machine, racking up 140 goals and 380 points in 253 regular season games and another 27 goals and 88 points in the playoffs, while also being his now-trademark “worm” self. According to former Ducks general manager (GM) Brian Burke, “He was a mean son of a b—. He put up massive numbers in London, started all kinds of stuff. He looked like a choir boy but played like he was on ‘Team Devil.’ In warmups, he was chirping guys, trying to start a fight. He was a throwback.”
Perry also knew how to get under the skin of the goaltender, since he was always around the crease and had a knack for “worming” his way through traffic and getting shots away from in close. Former Duck and now teammate, Adam Henrique, reiterated that fact in an interview in 2022 when he had to play against him when Perry was a member of the Lightning: “That’s his game. He’s in there. He finds ways to be that pest in the side of whoever he’s playing against. He’s not afraid to get in there. And that’s why he’s had the success that he’s had.”
Perry made his NHL debut in 2005-06 after winning everything imaginable in the OHL in 2004-05, culminating in a Memorial Cup. He split his time between the American Hockey League’s (AHL) Portland Pirates and the Mighty Ducks, scoring 16 goals and 34 points in the former and 13 goals and 25 points in the latter. He was obviously too good for the AHL (16 goals in 19 games), but due to the lockout that shortened the season to 56 games, Pirates fans got to see a future NHL All-Star and likely Hall of Famer in action.
Perry didn’t see the AHL again after that season and spent a memorable 988 regular season games and 118 playoff games in Anaheim before signing as a free agent with the Dallas Stars in 2019. He only won the Stanley Cup once in his tenure with the Ducks, that being 2007 when he formed the “Kid Line” alongside long-time linemate Ryan Getzlaf and power forward Dustin Penner. They terrorized opponents during the 2007 Playoffs, combining for 16 goals and 40 points, and were one of the reasons why the Ducks won the championship.
From there, Perry and Getzlaf continued their dominance in the NHL, rising to the heights of the Ducks’ top line and becoming two of their most decorated and iconic players. Perry finished his time with the franchise with 372 goals and 776 points in 988 games before heading to Dallas, while Getzlaf stuck around for a few more seasons and became the Ducks’ all-time scorer with 282 goals and 1,019 points in 1,157 games. Perry still sits second in goals, third in points, and third in games played. He also won the Hart Trophy and the Rocket Richard Trophy in 2010-11 after scoring 50 goals, which remains a career-high.
Perry’s production started to decline once he joined the Stars at 34 years old, but he was still a difference-maker in the playoffs, appearing in his second Stanley Cup Final since winning it in 2007. He didn’t raise the Cup again, though, and that started a crazy and disappointing trend for him, as he has since returned to the Cup Final four more times, but has yet to avoid the heartbreak of losing it. He left the Stars and joined the Montreal Canadiens, who made a surprise run in 2021, but lost to the Tampa Bay Lightning. Then, he hitched his wagon to the dynastic Lightning, but they couldn’t get by the Colorado Avalanche. Finally, he signed with the Oilers last season after getting his contract terminated by the Chicago Blackhawks, but ultimately lost in the 2024 Final to the Panthers.
Now Perry is back again, for the fourth time in the last five years, to break that horrible trend and help the Oilers avenge that loss to the Panthers. He is doing his best to do so, too, with another banner year in the playoffs, co-leading the charge with seven goals (tied with Leon Draisaitl) so far. Hopefully, this time, he can raise the Cup that has become so elusive since he did it nearly 22 years ago with the Ducks.
Brad Marchand, aka “The Rat”
Unlike Perry, Marchand was not a hyped first-round pick coming out of the Canadian Hockey League (CHL), nor was he expected to become a prolific goalscorer. He played his junior career in the Quebec Maritimes Junior Hockey League (QMJHL), where he finished with a solid, but not eye-popping, 102 goals and 248 points in 245 games. However, he always showed up in the playoffs, where he had 25 goals and 79 points in 65 games, winning the QMJHL championship in 2006 with the Moncton Wildcats and leading the league with 16 goals and 40 points in 2007 as a part of the Val-d’Or Foreurs. His style, a physical, get-under-your-skin player, was most likely projected to be a bottom-six grinder that would occasionally pot a goal or two.
Related: The Evolution of Brad Marchand
Marchand was drafted in the third round by the Bruins in 2006, mostly due to his size at 5-foot-9. But he quickly proved to everyone that size is just a number when you are both annoying to play against and have speed and skill to burn. While he started his NHL career on an energy line alongside Gregory Campbell and Shawn Thornton, not another first-round pick like Getzlaf, he eventually impressed then-head coach Claude Julien enough to move him up to the top-six with Patrice Bergeron and Mark Recchi. The rest, as they say, is history. He ended up winning his only Stanley Cup that year, scoring 11 goals and 19 points along the way.
Marchand was a menace during those playoffs, providing physicality, clutch goalscoring and all-around nasty play (even crossing the line at times, which eventually became a narrative for his career) that got him the nickname, “The Rat”. But like Perry, he still hasn’t raised the Cup since that 2011 run, which is now approaching 14 years. He hasn’t made it back to the Final as many times as him either (only once back in 2019), but he’s still brought it in the playoffs, with 60 goals and 152 points in 174 games.
Marchand was an iconic player for the Bruins (and Boston sports in general) before he was surprisingly dealt to the Panthers at the 2025 Trade Deadline. In fact, it was almost a foregone conclusion that he would follow Getzlaf and finish his career with the team that drafted him. But it wasn’t meant to be, as he played his final game in the Black and Gold on March 1, 2025, against the Pittsburgh Penguins. He finished his career in Boston with 422 goals and 1,113 points in 1,090 games, along with 1,113 penalty minutes. Every one of those stats sits top five in franchise history as he is fourth in goals and games played, fifth in points, and fourth in penalty minutes.
Now, Marchand has moved his “Rat” show to South Florida, where rats reign supreme. Since Scott Mellanby famously killed a rat in the dressing room and proceeded to score two goals in what former goaltender John Vanbiesbrouck called a “rat trick”, the fans have thrown plastic rats on the ice after a Panthers win. Now, they have their own resident rat on the roster, and he’s provided the same pest-like annoyance to their opposition since he joined the team. As expected, he’s also thriving again in the playoffs with four goals and 14 points, which ranks fourth behind Matthew Tkachuk, Sam Bennett, and Aleksander Barkov. He’s fit like a glove on the third line with Anton Lundell and Eetu Luostarinen, and could end up helping the Panthers to their second-straight Stanley Cup.
“He’s been incredible,” Tkachuk said of Marchand earlier this postseason. “Him and their whole line has been incredible. … It’s crazy. He’s the oldest guy [on the team]. He’s full of energy and you would not think that by the way he’s playing right now. Super impressed to see what he’s doing, super lucky to have him on our side.”
Who Will Annoy the Other Team the Most and Walk Away as Champions?
So, the battle lines have been drawn between the Oilers and Panthers, and the 40-year-old Perry and 37-year-old Marchand are set to bring their ageless, pesky playing styles to the Stanley Cup Final once again. For two of the top pests in the game, their job is simple: annoy the other team and continue their playoff dominance that they’ve shown so capable of throughout their career.
It’s the Worm vs. the Rat. Who will win? Find out in a few days as the Stanley Cup Final gets going in Edmonton on June 4.
