Blackhawks acquire Corey Perry from the Lightning

This just in, the Tampa Bay Lightning have traded veteran forward Corey Perry to the Chicago Blackhawks.

Perry is a pending unrestricted free agent and can hit the open market on July 1st. So, in effect, the Blackhawks traded a 7th round pick just to get two days of exclusive negotiations with Perry. NHL insider Frank Seravalli reports that Blackhawks head coach Luke Richardson played a big part in the team acquiring Perry.