Blues trade Scott Perunovich to Islanders: Why he fizzled in St. Louis, and how he fits in New York

The St. Louis Blues have traded Scott Perunovich to the New York Islanders for a conditional draft pick, the teams announced Monday.

The pick heading to the Blues would be in the fifth round of the 2026 NHL Draft, though the terms of the conditions weren’t immediately announced.

The move was inevitable at some point for Perunovich, 26, a second-round pick in 2018. His career was riddled by injuries early and when in the Blues’ lineup, he struggled to find his footing.

The 2020 Hober Baker winner as college hockey’s top player was an offensive-minded defenseman and power-play specialist at the University of Minnesota-Duluth. But points were hard to come by during his time with the Blues, with two goals and 27 assists in 97 games.

Perunovich has played in just 24 games this season and was a healthy scratch 26 times.

Why the Blues made the move, and what Perunovich brings

The club wasn’t confident playing Perunovich on a regular basis, and he clearly needed a change of scenery.

Perunovich is undersized (5-foot-10, 175 pounds) but has shown glimpses in the NHL of how he can be successful. There just haven’t been enough of them.

When he’s playing with confidence, Perunovich can move the puck and quarterback a power play. But his confidence was regularly down because of his injuries, limited opportunities and lack of success. Offensively, he was often reluctant to shoot, and defensively he struggled five-on-five. As a result, the Blues made several moves that moved him down the pecking order on defense: bringing in Ryan Suter, Philip Broberg and Cam Fowler.

Meanwhile, Tyler Tucker was called up and quickly solidified a spot in the lineup, pushing Perunovich further out of the picture. — Rutherford

How he fits on the Islanders

Well, he’s an NHL defenseman, so that qualifies him immediately. With Noah Dobson sidelined indefinitely and Ryan Pulock going straight to injured reserve after leaving Saturday’s game on the first shift, the Isles are desperate. They added Tony DeAngelo on Friday to fill one hole and now Perunovich, still only 26, can plug another.

Lou Lamoriello’s team still sits six points out of a playoff spot despite carrying a four-game winning streak into Tuesday’s game with the Avalanche. All the signs, record-wise and health-wise, point to the Islanders being necessary sellers by the March 7 trade deadline. Lamoriello isn’t waving a white flag just yet, though, and this deal — adding a once-promising defenseman for basically no cost — says that Lamoriello will give his team as much time as possible to see if the Islanders can get back into the East playoff picture. — Staple

(Photo of Scott Perunovich: Bruce Bennett / Getty Images)