Blackhawks place former Hart Trophy winner on waivers, intend to terminate contract

The Chicago Blackhawks placed veteran forward Corey Perry on waivers for the purposes of contract termination. He was 16 games into his first year with the club, scoring four goals and nine points. Perry was previously announced as being away from the team for the “foreseeable future.”

Perry has been missing from team activities since the Wednesday before Thanksgiving after he was a surprising healthy scratch as the result of an “organizational decision.” He missed the team’s proceeding Thursday practice, and the Blackhawks shared that they decided Perry should take time away soon after.

Perry joined the Hawks via trade in June, with Chicago sending a seventh-round pick to the Tampa Bay Lightning for the veteran. Chicago then inked Perry to a one-year, $4M contract extension that set him up for a prominent role with the 2023-24 Blackhawks lineup. Chicago even rewarded Perry with an alternate captain role. He served as one of four alternate captains for the Hawks, who have yet to name a successor to the captaincy that Jonathan Toews held since 2008.

Perry, 38, is nearing the end of an electric hockey career that saw him win the Stanley Cup and Gold at the World Cup, World Juniors, Hlinka Gretzky Cup, World Championship, twice at the Olympics and plenty more. He’s one of only a handful of hockey players in the coveted Triple Gold club, which comprises players who have won Gold at the Olympics and World Championship and won a Stanley Cup. Perry’s dazzling career has amounted to 1,273 NHL games and 892 career points. He added 124  points in 196 career playoff games.

It is unknown whether Perry’s contract termination is mutual, although the Blackhawks have claimed that Perry violated his standard player contract, which would provide grounds for termination even if Perry does not agree.