Perry becomes free agent after clearing unconditional waivers

Corey Perry cleared unconditional waivers Wednesday, allowing the Chicago Blackhawks to officially terminate his contract.

The 38-year-old becomes an unrestricted free agent after the move.

Chicago waived Perry with the intention of terminating his one-year, $4-million contract after an internal investigation found he "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 work environments."

Blackhawks general manager Kyle Davidson noted the incident that resulted in Perry's termination was a workplace matter, not a criminal one, during a press conference Tuesday.

Perry was a healthy scratch on Nov. 22 against the Columbus Blue Jackets, which head coach Luke Richardson described as an "organizational decision," according to Ben Pope of the Chicago Sun-Times.

Davidson said Saturday that Perry would be away from the team for the "foreseeable future". The player's agent, Pat Morris, released a statement the same day saying Perry was stepping away from the team "to attend to personal matters."

Perry played 16 games with the Blackhawks, accumulating four goals and nine points.