In this series – Get to Know – learn more about the newest Utah Mammoth players and who they are on and off the ice!
On the first day of free agency, defenseman Scott Perunovich signed a one-year, two-way contract with the Utah Mammoth. Learn more about the blueliner ahead of the 2025-26 season!
The Basics
Hailing from Hibbing, Minnesota, Perunovich is a 5-foot-10, 174-pound, left-shot defenseman. He comes from a hockey family as his brother, Jeff, uncles Doug and Steve, and cousins Gage and Mitch, all played hockey at various levels. Perunovich is the youngest of Jim and Susan Perunovich’s three kids – Jeff, Lisa, and Scott.
The Road to the NHL
Perunovich played youth and high school hockey in Minnesota, before he played one season with the Cedar Rapids RoughRiders in the USHL. Following the one year of junior hockey in Iowa, Perunovich returned home to play college hockey at the University of Minnesota Duluth.
He turned heads with a strong freshman season where he won numerous awards and recognitions including the Tim Taylor Award (Hockey Commissioner’s Association National Rookie of the Year), first team All-American, USCHO.com National Rookie of the Year, and College Hockey News National Rookie of the Year. He also helped the Bulldogs capture their second ever National Championship.
Following his freshman year, Perunovich was drafted by the St. Louis Blues in the second round of the 2018 NHL Draft. Perunovich returned to Duluth for two more college hockey seasons. During his sophomore season, he was a part of the Bulldogs’ back-to-back National Championships. During his junior season, Perunovich won the 2020 Hobey Baker Award (top player in men’s college hockey) and was named the winner of USA Hockey’s Jim Johannson Award (top American-born college player). Following his junior year, Perunovich signed his first professional contract in 2020 with the Blues.
NHL Experience
On Nov. 16, 2021, against the Arizona Coyotes, Perunovich played his first NHL game with the Blues. In his second game, two nights later against the San Jose Sharks, Perunovich recorded his first NHL point, an assist. Over his first NHL season, Perunovich played 19 games and had six assists.
During the 2023-24 season, Perunovich played 54 games with the Blues, his current career-high. He had 17 assists over his second season in the league. On Jan. 27, 2025, Perunovich was traded from St. Louis to the New York Islanders. Through the remaining months of the 2024-25 season, he played 11 games with New York and contributed three assists.
Through three NHL seasons, Perunovich has played 108 games, scored two goals, and added 30 assists for 32 total points. The defenseman signed his current contract, a one-year two-year deal, in July.