Corey Perry’s focus isn’t on hockey right now.
As the veteran forward made clear in a statement released after the Chicago Blackhawks terminated his contract for a material breach, Perry is prioritizing his family and his health during this time he is not working with a team during the season. of the NHL for the first time since 2004.
“I have begun working with experts in the fields of mental health and substance abuse to discuss my struggles with alcohol and I will take whatever steps are necessary to make sure it never happens again,” Perry wrote. in a statement issued on Thursday. “I hope I can regain the trust and respect of everyone who believed in me.”
The specifics of what caused Chicago to cut ties with its alternate captain remain unknown. Blackhawks general manager Kyle Davidson called it a “workplace matter” and indicated it did not involve criminal activity.
His organization is understandably sensitive to any incident involving employee misconduct after it failed to act in 2010 when former player Kyle Beach alleged he was sexually assaulted by video coach Brad Aldridge. The Blackhawks paid a $2 million fine to the NHL for “inadequate internal procedures and inadequate and untimely response” when details of that situation emerged in 2021 and also reached a confidential settlement with Beach .
Still, a contract termination like the one he and Perry started is rare in the NHL — especially since it involves a former Hart Trophy winner with a borderline case for eventual induction into the Hockey Hall of Fame.
In recent years, NHL clubs have typically carried out contract terminations in cases involving criminal charges (Slava Voynov, Mike Richards) or for lesser infractions involving under-roster players. (Brendan Leipsic, Jake Dotchin).
Perry’s case appears somewhere in the middle of those two poles, at least based on how Davidson loosely framed what happened during an emotional media presence in Chicago on Tuesday night.
Even at age 38, Perry is an important player for the Blackhawks. He was lettered, paid $4 million to serve as a mentor to a young dressing room and sat as the team’s third-leading producer when information reached management last week that prompted his removal from the lineup during the launch. an investigation.
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As of Tuesday, Perry was placed on unconditional waivers for purposes of contract termination. It’s a stunning turn of events with potential ramifications that reach far beyond the situation at hand.
Precedent
With no disrespect intended to anyone affected by Perry’s actions and no judgment being passed on the events that led him to this because they are still unknown, it’s worth stepping back to understand what constitutes reasonable grounds to terminate an NHL contract.
The standard is very high.
All deals are intended to be fully guaranteed.
However, the terms of a standard player contract do not offer complete clarity on what constitutes a material breach because while section 2(e) calls for a player to “conduct himself within and off the rink according to the highest standards of honesty, morality, fair play and sportsmanship, and the avoidance of conduct detrimental to the best interests of the Club, the League or professional hockey in general,” the Paragraph 4 of the SPC provides that a team may “establish reasonable rules governing the conduct and conditioning of the Player. .” But in the event the player violates those rules, the punishment is limited to a “reasonable fine” or suspension from the team.
The criteria for a breach worthy of termination of the contract are not expressly spelled out.
We can only lean on history as a guide, and the examples are varied: Everything from the Tampa Bay Lightning moving to terminate Dotchin’s contract because he showed up to training camp out of shape in 2019, to the agreement of Leipsic who was terminated by the Washington Capitals in 2020 after private conversations in which he discussed drugs, women and fellow NHL players and their significant others became public, to the San Jose Sharks who terminated Evander Kane’s contract in 2022 after he presented a fake vaccination card and failed to report.
The Kings terminated Richards’ contract in 2015 after he was charged with attempting to cross the border into possession of a controlled substance — though they ultimately agreed to pay the player a portion of his remaining salary and hit a negotiated cap charge through 2032 as part of a settlement arising out of a grievance.
And Los Angeles terminated Voynov’s contract two years later after he was charged with domestic assault.
In Perry’s case, the Blackhawks said in a statement this week that he “engaged in conduct that is unacceptable, and in violation of both the terms of his Standard Player Contract and internal Blackhawks policies intended to promote professional and safe work environment.”
Where exactly the line should be drawn is not entirely clear.
For example, when video of Capitals forward Evgeny Kuznetsov surfaced in 2019 with what appeared to be cocaine on a table in front of him, he was suspended by the team for three games for inappropriate conduct.
Judge the individual actions laid out here as much as possible. The bottom line is that an NHL player found to have conducted himself in an unprofessional manner does not always find himself with a terminated contract.
Potential grievance
Perry has 60 days to decide if he wants to file a complaint through the NHL Players’ Association. The matter remains under review, according to a union spokesman.
If he chooses to go that route, it will be an exercise in maintaining his earning power.
Perry is entitled to keep about $1 million of his $4 million salary after spending about 25 percent of the season on the Blackhawks roster before his contract expires, which means he technically owes money to organization because he received a $2 million signing bonus over the summer.
However, he has the right to take his case to an independent arbitrator, pursuant to Article 17 of the NHL’s CBA.
If this happens, Perry will fight to receive the full amount of salary remaining on his 2023-24 contract. There is no chance he can be returned to the Blackhawks roster and continue playing there in the short term.
Filing a grievance also opens up the possibility of reaching a negotiated settlement as Dotchin and Richards did. Kane also received money from the Sharks to help make up the difference between what he originally owed them and what he received in the contract he signed as a free agent in Edmonton.
The future
Perry is now an unrestricted free agent and possesses all the rights afforded to any player in that situation.
He is eligible to enter into a contract with another NHL team now. And he’ll need to sign somewhere before the March 8 trade deadline to suit up for the upcoming playoffs.
There hasn’t been any indication that a comeback is even remotely a priority for Perry. His statement was entirely focused on addressing the remorse he felt for the harm his actions had caused and disclosing his need to begin treatment for struggling with alcoholism.
“I want to sincerely apologize to the entire Chicago Blackhawks organization, including ownership, management, coaches, trainers, employees, and my teammates,” Perry wrote. “I also want to apologize to my fans, and my family. I’m ashamed and I let you all down.”
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Rival teams currently know less about what led to Perry’s contract termination than the general public is expected to keep an eye on his situation. They want to gain a better understanding of the circumstances surrounding his exit from Chicago to gauge whether he might be in a position to continue his hockey career, and eventually need to see where he is in person after being granted time to seek treatment.
There may still be a path back to the NHL for Perry.
Only time will tell.
(Photo: Claus Andersen/Getty Images)
