Details explaining Corey Perry’s absence from the Blackhawks remain scarce, but it’s clear his absence will be long-term.
Hawks general manager Kyle Davidson said Saturday that Perry will be away from the team “for the foreseeable future.”
Davidson added that this is a team decision, not Perry’s. But he declined to give any further information, calling it “irresponsible to start ruling anything out.”
An hour after Davidson spoke, Perry’s agent, Pat Morris, released a seemingly contradictory statement claiming Perry has “stepped away” from the Hawks to “attend to personal matters.”
All things considered, the day’s serving of news hardly made the situation any less confusing.
Perry, the 38-year-old Ontario native, participated in Hawks practice Tuesday as usual — having tallied nine points while playing in each of the first 16 games — and then essentially vanished into thin air, starting with an abrupt healthy scratch Wednesday against the Blue Jackets.
Despite the losses of Perry and Taylor Hall — two of the three veterans brought in over the summer to bolster the talent and experience of the Hawks’ forward group — Davidson isn’t planning to make any in-season trades or additions to fill their voids.
“It’s not an easy thing to do, to add on the fly, especially this early in the season,” he said. “There are probably other teams that would be far more aggressive than us in trying to add talent. It’s not something I’m looking at.”
Davidson is correct that other teams would be more aggressive. The Oilers, a projected Stanley Cup contender off to a terrible start, are so desperate for help that many fans initially interpreted Perry’s absence as a possible indication he was being dealt to Edmonton, which is clearly not the case.
So the Hawks will forge on with the group they have. They’ll rely heavily on Nick Foligno, the one veteran summer addition who remains, to guide the ship.
“[This is] not ideal in some situations, but it’s what we’re faced with,” Foligno said. “Adversity hits every team and every player at some point, and we can’t feel any different about what we’re facing. We’ve just got to go out there and do our job.”
More from Davidson
This won’t be the case with Perry, but Davidson noted Hall will still be around the Hawks off the ice, even after undergoing ACL surgery Monday in Minnesota. He’ll be available to give feedback to rookie star Connor Bedard, whom he was brought in to help mentor.
“They’re friends; they can talk anytime,” Davidson said. “It doesn’t necessarily have to be live and in-person on the bench. A lot of it is life advice and time-management advice, or whatever it may be. So he’s still there as a resource.”
The Hawks also hope to eventually get some forward depth back in Andreas Athanasiou (groin injury) and Colin Blackwell (sports hernia), but it doesn’t sound as if that will happen soon. Defenseman Jarred Tinordi (oblique injury) has resumed skating on his own, but Athanasiou has not, Davidson said.
Regarding Lukas Reichel, Davidson insisted “nothing is over and done with” as far as the possibility of Reichel playing center again eventually, but he’s glad to see the young German building chemistry on the first-line wing with Bedard and Philipp Kurashev. In camp, Davidson said he envisioned Reichel playing center.
“It’s something [we’re assessing] on an ongoing basis,” Davidson said. “I didn’t think he had his greatest games at center, so [this role is about] getting him feeling positive and moving in the right direction.”
