Islanders Acquire Scott Perunovich; Roy Calls on NHL to Discipline

The New York Islanders wasted no time acquiring help for the blue line following yet another injury. The Islanders announced they’ve acquired defenseman Scott Perunovich from the St. Louis Blues in exchange for a conditional 2026 fifth-round draft pick.

Perunovich, 26, has played sparingly for the St. Louis Blues, stuck behind veterans such as Ryan Suter and Cam Fowler, while newcomer Phillip Broberg passed him as well. The 2020 Hober Baker winner (college hockey’s top player) was an offensive-minded defenseman and power-play specialist at the University of Minnesota-Duluth, adding to why New York acquired him.

The Islanders currently have the worst power play in the NHL, and Perunovich figures to immediately supplant Dennis Cholowski on the team’s third pair and second power-play unit. He has two goals, 27 assists, and 29 points in 97 career NHL games.

Perunovich is a low-risk, potential high-reward acquisition. He’s 5’10 “, so he’s a bit undersized, but the Islanders acquired a solid but undersized two-way defenseman back in the day who went on to have a pretty good career with the Islanders. That man was Thomas Hickey.

Pulock’s Injury; Roy Calls Out NHL for Ignoring Dangerous Play:

The other cause for the move is the injury to Ryan Pulock, one that immediately landed the veteran on injured reserve and left the team refusing to give out a timeline.

In the play, Pulock was injured; Carolina Hurricanes forward Jackson Blake appeared to slew foot the Islanders’ defenseman, causing him to fall awkwardly and land hard on his shoulder.

This morning at practice, head coach Patrick Roy discussed the play and said, “I hope it was an accident, but I really didn’t like this slew foot.” Then he called on the league to look at the play again, saying how dirty it is. “These are dangerous plays.”

Roy publicly urging the NHL says a lot about what he thought of the play, and certainly, it injured Pulock for a decent while.