The NY Islanders acquired defenseman Scott Perunovich from the St. Louis Blues today in exchange for a conditional fifth-round pick in 2026. He’ll come with a $1.15M cap hit and is set to be a RFA at the end of the season.
Perunovich, a 26-year-old blueliner has been part of the Blues organization since being drafted in the second round (45th overall) in 2018. He’s played in 24 games this season, scoring twice and adding four assists, but has been a healthy scratch since his last action on January 4th.
NY Islanders acquire a defenseman
He’s played 97 games in his career over parts of three seasons, totaling two goals and 27 assists.
Before making his professional debut during the 2021-22 season, Perunovich attended the University of Minnesota-Duluth where he played three seasons. During his final season with the Bulldogs, Perunovich was awarded the Hobey Baker Award given annually to the top player in College Hockey. That season he amassed six goals and 34 assists in 34 games and led his team to back-to-back National Championships.
Additionally, Perunovich was part of Team USA for the 2018 World Junior Championships, earning a bronze medal.
The acquisition of Perunovich is a result of the injury to Ryan Pulock on Saturday in the Islanders’ 3-2 OT win over the Carolina Hurricanes.
While the Isles left side of the blue line was decimated by injury earlier in the season, the right side has now been stung by the injury bug, as it looks like Pulock and Noah Dobson will be out of the lineup for significant time.
Perunovich will likely make his Islanders debut tomorrow night when they host the Colorado Avalanche in the final game of their seven-game homestand.