The Mysterious Corey Perry Saga Takes Another Twist

In yet another ominous and mysterious update to the Corey Perry saga in Chicago, Blackhawks general manager Kyle Davidson has now spoken up, revealing that the 18-year veteran will be away from the team "for the foreseeable future."

Corey Perry will remain away from the Blackhawks "for the foreseeable future," Kyle Davidson says.

— Ben Pope (@BenPopeCST) November 25, 2023

But in another little clue to what might be happening here, he added that the player's absence is a team decision, not Perry’s decision. He gave no further information. Perry's agent, however, seemed to contradict that, releasing a statement saying he has stepped away from the Blackhawks "to attend to personal matters."

Even though he didn't reveal much, it was important that the Corey Perry update come from Kyle Davidson, not Luke Richardson, who said he's basically still in the dark about what's going on. Perry's still a big name in the hockey world, and this has become an international story.

— Mark Lazerus (@MarkLazerus) November 25, 2023

As noted by Mark Lazerus of The Athletic, head coach Luke Richardson has continued to insist that he was "in the dark" about the whole situation.  

The 38-year-old Perry was brought in this season, signing a $4M deal in order to provide another veteran player with which to surround No. 1 pick Connor Bedard on the team. Perry had been playing in the Blackhawks' bottom-six, getting about 14 minutes per game through the first 16 games of the season, and he'd been producing at a reasonable rate, with four goals, five assists and nine points. 

But he was a sudden healthy scratch three days ago in the Blackhawks loss to the Columbus Blue Jackets, and as noted by Ben Pope in the Chicago Sun-Times, Perry "vanished into thin air." He was absent from practice the next day, and again was nowhere to be seen for their game on Friday against the Toronto Maple Leafs. 

Davidson says he isn’t currently planning any trades or additions to fill the void left by both Perry and fellow veteran Taylor Hall, who was lost for the season this past week due to ACL surgery.

The Corey Perry mystery deepens. 

Photo: Stephen R. Sylvanie-USA TODAY Sports