{"id":138628,"date":"2023-06-25T15:33:47","date_gmt":"2023-06-25T19:33:47","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/hockey\/?p=138628"},"modified":"2023-06-25T15:33:47","modified_gmt":"2023-06-25T19:33:47","slug":"st-louis-blues-and-scott-perunovich-settle-for-one-year-deal","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/hockey\/2023\/06\/25\/st-louis-blues-and-scott-perunovich-settle-for-one-year-deal\/","title":{"rendered":"St. Louis Blues and Scott Perunovich Settle For One-Year Deal"},"content":{"rendered":"<p><span data-preserver-spaces=\"true\">The\u00a0<\/span><a class=\"editor-rtfLink\" href=\"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/hockey\/category\/blues\/\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_self\"><span data-preserver-spaces=\"true\">St. Louis Blues<\/span><\/a><span data-preserver-spaces=\"true\">\u00a0have re-signed\u00a0<\/span><a href=\"https:\/\/www.hockey-reference.com\/players\/p\/perunsc01.html?utm_medium=linker&amp;utm_source=lastwordonsports.com&amp;utm_campaign=2023-06-25_hr\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Scott Perunovich<\/a><span data-preserver-spaces=\"true\">\u00a0to a one-year contract extension. Additionally, the one-way contract carries an average annual value of $775,000 for the 2023-24 season.<\/span><\/p>\n<blockquote class=\"twitter-tweet\" data-width=\"550\" data-dnt=\"true\">\n<p lang=\"en\" dir=\"ltr\">We&#39;ve signed Scott Perunovich to a one-year, one-way contract extension. <a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/hashtag\/stlblues?src=hash&amp;ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">#stlblues<\/a> <\/p>\n<p>DETAILS &gt;&gt;&gt; <a href=\"https:\/\/t.co\/Cn6brPINXb\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">https:\/\/t.co\/Cn6brPINXb<\/a> <a href=\"https:\/\/t.co\/q6u6bjquUO\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">pic.twitter.com\/q6u6bjquUO<\/a><\/p>\n<p>&mdash; St. Louis Blues (@StLouisBlues) <a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/StLouisBlues\/status\/1672708776665796608?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">June 24, 2023<\/a><\/p><\/blockquote>\n<p><script async src=\"https:\/\/platform.twitter.com\/widgets.js\" charset=\"utf-8\"><\/script><\/p>\n<h2><span data-preserver-spaces=\"true\">Perunovich Re-Ups With St. Louis<\/span><\/h2>\n<p><span data-preserver-spaces=\"true\">Perunovich suffered a fractured shoulder in a preseason match-up, side-lining him for six months. Then, Perunovich suited up for the Springfield Thunderbirds, the Blues&#8217; AHL affiliate. He recorded two goals and 18 assists for 20 points in 22 games. Moreover, Perunovich played for Team USA in 10 World Championship contests, where he notched eight points.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span data-preserver-spaces=\"true\">Before this season, Perunovich played in 19 NHL games, which all came during the 2021-22 season. In those games, Perunovich potted six assists. However, he should&#8217;ve been an NHL regular before his injury. In the end, the Blues and Perunovich agreed on a league-minimum contract.<\/span><\/p>\n<h3><span data-preserver-spaces=\"true\">The Blues Underwent a Roster Shift<\/span><\/h3>\n<p><span data-preserver-spaces=\"true\">The team acquired cheap youth by claiming <a href=\"https:\/\/www.hockey-reference.com\/players\/k\/kapanka01.html?utm_medium=linker&amp;utm_source=lastwordonsports.com&amp;utm_campaign=2023-06-25_hr\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Kasperi Kapanen<\/a> from the <a href=\"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/hockey\/category\/penguins\/\" target=\"_self\">Pittsburgh Penguins<\/a> off waivers. The Blues even made a <a href=\"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/hockey\/2023\/03\/03\/detroit-red-wings-trade-jakub-vrana\/\" target=\"_self\">trade<\/a> to add <a href=\"https:\/\/www.hockey-reference.com\/players\/v\/vranaja01.html?utm_medium=linker&amp;utm_source=lastwordonsports.com&amp;utm_campaign=2023-06-25_hr\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Jakub Vrana<\/a>. <a href=\"https:\/\/www.hockey-reference.com\/players\/b\/berubcr01.html?utm_medium=linker&amp;utm_source=lastwordonsports.com&amp;utm_campaign=2023-06-25_hr\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Craig Berube<\/a> presented these pieces with a fabulous opportunity towards the end of the season, including power-play minutes and an increased role.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span data-preserver-spaces=\"true\">Defencemen <a href=\"https:\/\/www.hockey-reference.com\/players\/k\/krugto01.html?utm_medium=linker&amp;utm_source=lastwordonsports.com&amp;utm_campaign=2023-06-25_hr\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Torey Krug<\/a> and <a href=\"https:\/\/www.hockey-reference.com\/players\/p\/parayco01.html?utm_medium=linker&amp;utm_source=lastwordonsports.com&amp;utm_campaign=2023-06-25_hr\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Colton Parayko<\/a> have popped up in <a href=\"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/hockey\/2023\/02\/17\/nhl-rumours-st-louis-blues-colton-parayko-trade\/\" target=\"_self\">trade rumours<\/a>. The Blues&#8217; roster experienced a shift at the 2023 NHL Trade Deadline. The Toronto Maple Leafs <a href=\"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/hockey\/2023\/02\/24\/ryan-oreilly-trade-provides-intangibles-for-maple-leafs\/\" target=\"_self\">acquired<\/a> <a href=\"https:\/\/www.hockey-reference.com\/players\/o\/oreilry01.html?utm_medium=linker&amp;utm_source=lastwordonsports.com&amp;utm_campaign=2023-06-25_hr\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Ryan O&#8217;Reilly<\/a>. Furthermore, Vladamir Tarasenko and <a href=\"https:\/\/www.hockey-reference.com\/players\/b\/barbaiv01.html?utm_medium=linker&amp;utm_source=lastwordonsports.com&amp;utm_campaign=2023-06-25_hr\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Ivan Barbashev<\/a> were <a href=\"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/hockey\/2023\/02\/09\/st-louis-blues-trade-star-forward\/\" target=\"_self\">shipped out<\/a>.<\/span><\/p>\n<h3><span data-preserver-spaces=\"true\">Why This Benefits Perunovich Going Forward<\/span><\/h3>\n<p><span data-preserver-spaces=\"true\">With Krug likely on the move and the current direction of the Blues&#8217; franchise, there is an opportunity for Perunovich heading into the 2023-24 season. Perunovich could play a similar role to Krug. This role would consist of 15-16 minutes of 5v5 ice time per night. Krug experienced the second-highest percentage of offensive zone starts amongst St. Louis defencemen in 2021-22 and 2022-23. Believe it or not, in Perunovich&#8217;s 19 NHL games, he saw the high deployment in the offensive zone amongst all Blues defenceman over the past two seasons.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span data-preserver-spaces=\"true\">Perunovich&#8217;s strength as a player comes from his offensive mind. He&#8217;s proven his ability to quarterback a power play through his <a href=\"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/hockey\/2020\/04\/12\/st-louis-blues-prospect-scott-perunovich-wins-hobey-baker\/\" target=\"_self\">2020 Hobey Baker Memorial Award<\/a>, given to the top player in college hockey. Perunovich scored 40 points in 34 games with the University of Minnesota Duluth to capture this trophy.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span data-preserver-spaces=\"true\">Krug&#8217;s 350 minutes on the power play over the past two seasons ranks first for all St. Louis defencemen. <a href=\"https:\/\/www.hockey-reference.com\/players\/f\/faulkju01.html?utm_medium=linker&amp;utm_source=lastwordonsports.com&amp;utm_campaign=2023-06-25_hr\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Justin Faulk<\/a> will likely take the spot on the power play one. Yet, this doesn&#8217;t mean Perunovich can&#8217;t start on unit two. Perunovich&#8217;s confidence with the puck, excellent vision, and creativity make him a low-risk, high-reward replacement for Krug.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<h3><span data-preserver-spaces=\"true\">What Perunovich Brings To The Table<\/span><\/h3>\n<p><span data-preserver-spaces=\"true\">Two attributes that opened the eyes of St. Louis scouts were Perunovich&#8217;s skating and passing. His skating abilities offer the archetype of the modern-day NHL defenceman. He can use his acceleration and edges to skate himself out of trouble from forecheckers.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span data-preserver-spaces=\"true\">Perunovich can fire stretch passes to streaking wingers due to his excellent vision. His transition gameplay provides evidence he can be impactful at the NHL level. <a href=\"https:\/\/www.hockey-reference.com\/players\/t\/thomaro01.html?utm_medium=linker&amp;utm_source=lastwordonsports.com&amp;utm_campaign=2023-06-25_hr\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Robert Thomas<\/a> and <a href=\"https:\/\/www.hockey-reference.com\/players\/k\/kyroujo01.html?utm_medium=linker&amp;utm_source=lastwordonsports.com&amp;utm_campaign=2023-06-25_hr\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Jordan Kyrou<\/a> will enjoy his services for next season.<\/span><\/p>\n<h3><span data-preserver-spaces=\"true\">Why It Might Not Work<\/span><\/h3>\n<p><span data-preserver-spaces=\"true\">Here is why the Scott Perunovich contract may not work. A 5&#8217;9&#8243; defenceman with 19 games in experience doesn&#8217;t compile a traditional NHL resume. Perunovich faced many injuries throughout his young hockey career. He&#8217;s experienced a history with his shoulder and also received left wrist surgery.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span data-preserver-spaces=\"true\">The Blues may be interested in <a href=\"https:\/\/www.hockey-reference.com\/players\/s\/sanhetr01.html?utm_medium=linker&amp;utm_source=lastwordonsports.com&amp;utm_campaign=2023-06-25_hr\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Travis Sanheim<\/a> from the <a href=\"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/hockey\/category\/flyers\/\" target=\"_self\">Philadelphia Flyers<\/a>. Moreover, Krug&#8217;s no-movement clause situation is still up in the air. There&#8217;s no guarantee Pernovich has this opportunity.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span data-preserver-spaces=\"true\">The NHL coaching carousel has a history of burying players similar to Perunovich. He will take risks and make mistakes. His development won&#8217;t be a perfect path. Berube can&#8217;t hold Pernouvich on a short leash for him to maximize his potential.<\/span><\/p>\n<p>Main Photo: Jon Durr-USA TODAY Sports<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>The\u00a0St. Louis Blues\u00a0have re-signed\u00a0Scott Perunovich\u00a0to a one-year contract extension. Additionally, the one-way contract carries an average annual value of $775,000 for the 2023-24 season. We&#39;ve signed Scott Perunovich to a one-year, one-way contract extension. #stlblues DETAILS &gt;&gt;&gt; https:\/\/t.co\/Cn6brPINXb pic.twitter.com\/q6u6bjquUO &mdash; St. Louis Blues (@StLouisBlues) June 24, 2023 Perunovich Re-Ups With St. Louis Perunovich suffered a [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":3765,"featured_media":138639,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_lmt_disableupdate":"","_lmt_disable":"","sfio_featured_image":false,"sfio_embed_code":"","_ef_editorial_meta_date_first-draft-date":"","_ef_editorial_meta_paragraph_assignment":"","_ef_editorial_meta_checkbox_needs-photo":"","_ef_editorial_meta_number_word-count":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[32,34,4548],"tags":[718,375,3357,1535,1167],"class_list":["post-138628","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-blues","category-news","category-nhl","tag-colton-parayko","tag-craig-berube","tag-scott-perunovich","tag-torey-krug","tag-travis-sanheim"],"modified_by":"Tommy Bennett","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/hockey\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/138628","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/hockey\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/hockey\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/hockey\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/3765"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/hockey\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=138628"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/hockey\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/138628\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/hockey\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/138639"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/hockey\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=138628"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/hockey\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=138628"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/hockey\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=138628"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}