The Chicago Blackhawks have placed right winger Corey Perry on unconditional waivers as part of the process to terminate his contract following several days of speculation after they had announced he was away from the team indefinitely.
“After an internal investigation,” the team said via a statement Tuesday, “The Chicago Blackhawks have determined that Corey Perry has engaged in conduct that is unacceptable and in violation of both the terms of his Standard Player’s Contract and the Blackhawks’ internal policies intended to promote professional and safe working environments. As such, Corey Perry has been placed on unconditional waivers. In the event Mr. Perry clears waivers, we intend to terminate his contract effective immediately.”
The team has not shared any details of the incident(s) that caused them to act with such urgency. Blackhawks general manager Kyle Davidson will speak to the media at 4:00 p.m. CT and hopefully shed some light on the situation.
Perry was signed in the offseason to a one-year, $4M deal to come in as a steadying force for the younger players in the Blackhawks system, particularly Connor Bedard.
Perry played 16 games for the Blackhawks this season, scoring four goals and nine points, along with a -5 rating and 12 penalty minutes. He seemed to be fitting in nicely with his new team until it was announced that he was stepping away from the team for personal matters a few days ago.
Perry has been a consistently useful player for the duration of his 19-season career. He played a key role in the Anaheim Ducks’ Stanley Cup championship run in 2006-07 when he put up 15 points in the playoffs as a 22-year-old. He won the Hart Trophy as league MVP in 2010-11. He went on to become one of the greatest Ducks players of all time until he left for the Dallas Stars in 2019-20.
Perry then had one of the weirdest three-year stretches ever seen. He made it to the Stanley Cup Final in three straight seasons with three different teams and lost every time. In his career, the veteran winger has scored 421 goals and 892 points in 1,273 games.
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