Blackhawks waive former Hart Trophy winner Corey Perry

The National Hockey League headlines over the last 48 hours have been swirling around the Chicago Blackhawks. According to Arun Srinivasan of Yahoo! Sports on Tuesday, forward Corey Perry of Peterborough, Ontario had his contract terminated for inappropriate behaviour in the workplace. Perry was subsequently placed on waivers, he then cleared waivers, and has since had his contract terminated.

There is obviously more to this story that we simply do not know about at this time. It would be premature to speculate or report all of the bizarre rumours that are flying around social media.

Here is some of the stuff we do know as reported by Srinivasan. Perry was last seen practicing with the Blackhawks on November 21. He was seen doing a shooting drill with Blackhawks rookie phenom Connor Bedard. Perry was then a healthy scratch against the Columbus Blue Jackets on November 22, and that his benching was an organizational decision. Then on Wednesday, Blackhawks general manager Kyle Davidson rejected rumours that Perry was involved in an incident with the mother of Bedard and called the rumours “disgusting” according to Michael Hoad of Yahoo! Sports. Davidson did confirm however “that Perry was involved in an incident with a team employee” in Columbus according to Srinivasan on November 21.

Corey Perry in 2023-24

Perry has four goals and five assists for nine points in 16 games. He is a -6 with 12 penalty minutes, two power-play points, one game-winning goal, 26 shots on goal, eight blocked shots, 11 hits, six giveaways and eight takeaways. The game-winning goal came from defensemen Alex Vlasic of Wilmette, Illinois and Seth Jones of Arlington, Texas in a 4-1 Blackhawks win over the Toronto Maple Leafs on October 16. Perry’s power-play assist came on a goal by Nick Foligno of Buffalo, New York on November 4 in a 5-2 Blackhawks win over the Florida Panthers. Perry’s power-play goal came from Bedard and Foligno in a 5-3 Chicago win over Tampa Bay on November 9.

Perry’s Accolades

The 19-year veteran won a Stanley Cup with the Anaheim Ducks in 2007. He also won the Hart Trophy and Rocket Richard trophy with the Ducks in 2011, and was a four-time All-Star.