St. Louis Blues President of Hockey Operations and General Manager Doug Armstrong announced today the team has acquired a conditional fifth round draft pick in 2026 from the New York Islanders in exchange for defenseman Scott Perunovich.
Perunovich, 26, was originally drafted by the Blues in the second round, No. 45 overall, [Blues acquire 5th round of the 2018 NHL Draft.
This season, the Hibbing, Minnesota, native has appeared in 24 games, logging six points (two goals, four assists) and six penalty minutes.
Overall, Perunovich has dressed in 97 career NHL regular-season games, totaling 29 points (two goals, 27 assists) and 26 penalty minutes.
29 comments
Probably best to get him to a team that might give him
Some play time
Undersized defenseman that refused to shoot the puck at the pro-level and always hurt; there’s a reason why Tucker has seemingly surpassed him. Take the 5^(th) vs. losing him on waivers for nothing.
He just wasn’t gonna see the ice enough here. And hadn’t shown that he would be a key piece moving forward. I’m ok.
This move screams Robby Fabbri. Don’t like it.
Sucks that he’s a big part of my trading card PC, but I get it. Had to be done.
The relative brightness shone by Tucker this year condemned him to being traded as the most likely outcome. Glad we got something back and hope he finds success elsewhere.
Bummer that it never materialized or worked out for him here. Hopefully he makes the most of this second chance.
This is just the reality that not every prospect is gonna hit and is good to keep in mind while we await Dvorsky, Snuggerud, Lindstein, Stengberg, Jiricek, et al.
Hopefully he’s able to get ice time with NYI. Blues making room for a call up?
Surprised it wasn’t atleast a 4th or so but at this point I’ll take what I can get. Maybe his career will take off but for some reason I doubt it. He was given chance after chance here and just couldn’t hack it. Whether it be health or just inconsistent play he’s not NHL made.
Once again, we are waiting on the Blues to have someone they draft and develop play consistent top four minutes for them. The last guy to do it was Colton Parayko, over ten years ago now. Since then they have let Dunn, Walman and Mikkola all go on to play those minutes for other teams. And yes, I know there were mitigating circumstances for all of those, to some degree, but at a point the trend becomes hard to ignore.
I want the best for Perunovich but I will be very annoyed if this is exhibit 4. Four pretty different players, four different teams, three top four defensemen, all while the Blues championship window slammed shut largely because their defense sucked.
If they can’t figure out how to develop guys on the backend then this retool is not going to work.
I hate that we never played him but I hope he absolutely thrives on Long Island
3rd Hobey Baker Award winner the blues drafted that busted out… Hopefully Snuggerud, assuming he wins this year, breaks that trend
I don’t like this move. Our inability to develop defensemen is extremely concerning
Why? I don’t understand why we never gave him playing time over 40 year old Ryan Suter. Just gotta hope this isn’t another Walman scenario
Wonder if this also means leddy is close to returning.
I actually don’t mind this move. He wasn’t going to get the time here, and with Leddy getting closer, it makes sense. Developing a top 4 defenseman isn’t easy and outside of a goalie tends to be the hardest to develop. They have some young defensive prospects, so again, the move makes sense in the long run and short run.
Was this a favor to him? Doesn’t make sense otherwise
On the one hand, I don’t like it because Perunovich is a former 2nd round pick and Hobey Baker Award Winner (best hockey player in the NCAA). It’s tempting to hold onto him just in case he ends up putting it together (yeah he’s 26, but sometimes players figure it out well after they’re “supposed” to develop). 29 points in 97 career NHL games isn’t terrible for a defenseman. And 42 points in 39 career AHL games is fantastic. There are some signs that he could be a good player. I’m also upset that he never got a real look at the NHL level this year. He’s only played 24 games even though we have had a depleted defense this year (Krug and Leddy out long-term with injuries). I’m gonna hate it when he becomes a regular NHLer somewhere else.
On the other hand, Perunovich was not making the lineup. We’re playing 40-year-old Ryan Suter and 7th-round pick Tyler Tucker ahead of him. And while it’s upsetting that Perunovich didn’t get a look, the fact that he wasn’t getting a look means the coaching staff clearly didn’t have faith in him. It’s not like they didn’t play him because they had way too many good options. They had limited options but decided he was not their best one. Furthermore, while his points-per-game in the AHL are good and in the NHL aren’t terrible, his games played stat is. 5 seasons of professional hockey and he’s only played 136 games of hockey. Out of over 400 games, he’s only played 136. That reveals the biggest flaw in Perunovich’s game: he CANNOT stay healthy. The best ability is availability, and Perunovich is never available because he gets hurt.
It sucks that it didn’t work out here. I had lost faith that Perunovich would be a top 4 defenseman, but I thought he could still fit in your top 6. And maybe he will somewhere else. But it seems like it wasn’t going to happen with the Blues, and rather than lose him for nothing on waivers or in free agency this summer, they decided to recoup a 5th rounder for him. Time will tell.
Whaaaat
Hope Scotty puts it together on the Island and can stay in the lineup. Just never made himself indispensable.
Meh. Couldn’t beat out old balls Suter for ice time. Is what it is.
Good luck, Scotty P. May your blades be ever sharp.
Between this and Bolduc getting less playing time than everyone here thinks he deserves, I don’t love how we’ve handled our young guys under Monty. I think we could’ve given Scotty a little more runway this season, especially with the playoffs looking unlikely. Sure, maybe you lose out on this draft pick, but there’s one player on this roster who was drafted after the fourth round and it’s Tucker.
Good for him. I hope he gets a good run on the Island and is in the lineup every night.
Can’t wait to see him thrive in another organization. This is Vince Dunn all over again
I liked Scotty I really did. But there’s a reason 40 year old suter is playing over him on a nightly basis. Kid was supposed to be an offensive defenseman and 97 games played in the show only has 2 goals. Those numbers don’t work when you don’t have a great defensive side of your game to go with them
I wish him nothing but the best. I would be shocked if he didn’t catch fire, have a long career, and become a 1.25 PPG player against the Blues.
Like they always say, “well, a 5th rounder is better than nothin’. “
Sad-ish to see him go since I’m sure he’ll improve with NYI (assuming he stays healthy). Just never materialized for him here
Still, think he’d be worth more than a 5th as an NHL ready fast D