Islanders Trade for Scott Perunovich as Ryan Pulock Placed on IR
Anders if you do that in practice you’re going to defeat the whole purpose here. | Photo by Bruce Bennett/Getty Images
Another smaller, offensively oriented defenseman joins the fray. The injuries keep coming for the Islanders just as they are finally stringing some wins together, and now they’ve added a player who’s trying to get out from the shadow of his own injuries.
On Saturday they won their fourth game in a row for the first time all season, but lost Ryan Pulock and Marcus Hogberg (both now on IR) at opposite ends of the game.
The immediate answer was to trade for left-shooting defenseman Scott Perunovich from the St. Louis Blues, a low-cost move that works for both sides.
Perunovich is offensively skilled — he won the NCAA Hobey Baker Award in 2020 — but undersized and could never secure a sustained spot in the Blues lineup, despite their blueline being pretty old and leaky over the last few seasons. That’s partly due to poorly timed injuries and the lost opportunities those cause. At various times over the last three seasons it’s looked like he might finally about to get in a groove, when another injury or the rise of another defenseman in St. Louis put him back out of the lineup. Each time he looked his best, a devastating injury followed.
His first NHL goal didn’t come until this season, but it shows you a glimpse of the instincts that could be useful:
Scott Perunovich will never forget his first NHL goal. #stlblues pic.twitter.com/ZHja8801Yx— St. Louis Blues (@StLouisBlues) November 10, 2024
He’s one of those players who was headed toward Group VI UFA last year if he didn’t reach the minimum number of career games played. Though he ended up re-signing with the Blues over the summer, after he was bumped from the lineup again this season it became increasingly likely this would be his last run with the Blues. When they added Cam Fowler to consume minutes, they recalled a more physical defenseman from the AHL who ran with his opportunity and kept Perunovich in the press box.
So for a guy they weren’t going to use, the Blues get a conditional 5th-round pick — I haven’t seen the conditions yet, but wonder if it’s an even lower pick if he doesn’t reach certain games played or doesn’t resign or something [UPDATE: It’s a 5th if he plays 20 more games, otherwise it’s nothing, per the St. Louis Post-Dispatch], and the Isles get an emergency fill-in who at least at times has excited observers.
There is definite puck-moving talent, vision and (in the best of times) efficiency with Perunovich. Given a fresh start, you will likely see it. But he still hasn’t mastered playing NHL D at his size (5’10”, reportedly around 175 lbs.), and that looks like something that will continue unless he’s able to borrow Thomas Hickey’s brain (and Hickey’s listed dimensions were still two inches and 10lbs. more than Perunovich’s).
If you’re hoping for another late surge from this team, he’ll...well he’ll maybe help here and there while also frustrating you. If you’ve given up on this Islanders season and/or hope they drop into higher-odds lottery territory, he’s someone that might make the games fun to watch while still giving up enough on the back end to assure you they’ve not added a difference maker.
Either way, there’s also the outside chance that he’s able to both stay healthy and run with this opportunity. Wouldn’t bet on it, but the opening is there....
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