The story surrounding Corey Perry and the Blackhawks has generated a lot of attention, but it’s officially over. At least for the Blackhawks.

The forward was not claimed by the other 31 teams in the NHL, so he is now a free agent as of 2:00.

Now, it remains to be seen if another team will want to sign him before the December 1 deadline, which is this Friday.

Perry might also need time to recover from all this and may desire to step away from the world of hockey for a while.