Prospect Info: Scott Perunovich (2018 Draft - 45th overall)

[LastWordArmy]

Scouting Report

Scott Perunovich Scouting Report: 2018 NHL Draft #63 - Last Word on Hockey

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[67Blues]

Can't say that I understand this pick. We tend to go with big defensemen and this guy is really small. I'll trust BA saw something here, but it seems like this was a bit of a stretch for a 2nd round pick

 

[Novacain]

Can't say that I understand this pick. We tend to go with big defensemen and this guy is really small. I'll trust BA saw something here, but it seems like this was a bit of a stretch for a 2nd round pick

I mean our most succesful defensemen pick in the last while is Dunn and he's not super big.

 

[EastonBlues22]

I mean our most succesful defensemen pick in the last while is Dunn and he's not super big.

Big difference between 6'0'' and 5'9''.

We'll see. He definitely has the tools to play an up-tempo speed game. I guess the Blues were satisfied that he'll be able to defend at the NHL level.

 

[jbron]

I don't like overagers. However, Perunovich really had a great year at Minn. Duluth. He led the team in scoring.. Good power play, seems to see the ice well. Would have picked Akil Thomas at #45, but Perunovich is a Blue and hope he does well.

 

[Bye Bye Blueston]

My first instinct was to recoil in horror, but the more I read on him the better I feel. Krug is a heckuva player. Ryan Ellis is small and is fantastic. Spurgeon is outstanding. The league has changed. He apparently stood out at WJC and was top D-man as frosh on NCAA champs. Club obviously really liked him and I have lots of faith in BA.

 

[simon IC]

Not thrilled, but I trust BA. We shall see.

 

[EastonBlues22]

Spurgeon and Krug are the only 5'9'' (or shorter) defensemen that I can think of in the NHL. One was signed as a UFA and the other was drafted in the 6th. I have a feeling that the Blues could have nabbed Perunovich later if they really, really wanted him.

Still, if Perunovich ends up like either of them, that's a hell of a pick.

I think he has a tough road ahead of him, though. Rooting for him now all the same.

 

[Alklha]

Doug Armstrong highlighted all the small defensemen in the draft this year and said that GM's need to ask themselves if this is where the NHL is going. He then pointed out that it was the big guys in the finals again this year.

Interesting that we make a bit of a reach on a very small defenseman after that.

 

[Evocable Manager]

Spurgeon and Krug are the only 5'9'' (or shorter) defensemen that I can think of in the NHL. One was signed as a UFA and the other was drafted in the 6th. I have a feeling that the Blues could have nabbed Perunovich later if they really, really wanted him.

Still, if Perunovich ends up like either of them, that's a hell of a pick.

I think he has a tough road ahead of him, though. Rooting for him now all the same.

Ryan Ellis, Sam Girard are 5'9" or under as well.

Butcher, Vatanen and Barrie are at 5'10".

Smaller defenseman can survive in the NHL. But it remains to be seen just how good this guy is, I've never really watched him but he must have something going for him.

 

[EastonBlues22]

Ryan Ellis, Sam Girard are 5'9" or under as well.

Butcher, Vatanen and Barrie are at 5'10".

Smaller defenseman can survive in the NHL. But it remains to be seen just how good this guy is, I've never really watched him but he must have something going for him.

They might have been at their respective drafts, but both Ellis and Girard are listed at 5'10'' now.

 

[Stealth JD]

I have a feeling that the Blues could have nabbed Perunovich later if they really, really wanted him.

They must have figured without a 3rd rounder, he'd never make it to the 4th...and if they really considered him a player they needed to grab him in the 2nd. Seems that he was on the radar of a lot of teams (leading your team in scoring as a freshman-defenseman while winning the National Championship tends to do that) and the Blues knew that.

Love this pick!

 

[Evocable Manager]

You know the more I read, the more I like. I'm not sure what to expect, but he's definitely got upside. Being 20, he's probably not far off from being able to play as well.

 

[bluesfan94]

Spurgeon and Krug are the only 5'9'' (or shorter) defensemen that I can think of in the NHL. One was signed as a UFA and the other was drafted in the 6th. I have a feeling that the Blues could have nabbed Perunovich later if they really, really wanted him.

Still, if Perunovich ends up like either of them, that's a hell of a pick.

I think he has a tough road ahead of him, though. Rooting for him now all the same.

Grzelcyk

 

[DatDude44]

I like this pick, and even more since he’s a lefty, but man If we were going offensive defenseman I would’ve loved to nab Calen Addison. Though Perunovich strengths are his brain, offensive ability and puck management. That screams New aged NHL defensemen. I’m happy with the pick

 

[The Note in MI]

For those of you looking for any video of Perunovich, here’s the National Championship game. Sorry if not allowed, but it’s youtube so...

 

[Megaterio Llamas]

Aaarrrggghhh. St Louis got my player.

LOL Congrats on the steal guys.

 

[stl76]

They must have figured without a 3rd rounder, he'd never make it to the 4th...and if they really considered him a player they needed to grab him in the 2nd. Seems that he was on the radar of a lot of teams (leading your team in scoring as a freshman-defenseman while winning the National Championship tends to do that) and the Blues knew that.

Love this pick!

I think you hit the nail on the head. MAYBE he was a slight reach, but there’s no way Perunovich would’ve made it to the 4th. The Blues got their guy in the first 2 rounds, not mad about it.

One thing people may be overlooking a bit about Perunovich is that he is probably closer to NHL ready than most of the other players who were available at 45. It would be HUGE if Perunovich could be a contributer in the NHL in 2 years.

This draft for the Blues was an interesting mix of guys who will most likely take quite a while to develop (Bokk/Hofer/Laferriere) and overage guys like Perunovich and McGinn who are most likely further along in their development (and hopefully closer to contributing in the NHL). I think this mix of longer term projects and hopefully sooner term contributors was a deliberate strategy from the scouting/management team. We’ll see if it pays off!

FWIW, the more I learn about Perunovich, the more I like the pick...tho I suppose that’s a pretty typical “shiny new toy” reaction.

 

[shpongle falls]

Wasn't sure what to make of this pick but after listening to Bill Armstrong rave about all of his good qualities I can see why they wanted to nab this guy, Tkachuk and and another scout were adamant that Bill should watch him play in person and Perunovich showed enough that they wanted to draft him. It's cool to see the Blues have been willing to draft smaller players with offensive upside this year, with the way the NHL is trending and also players like Debrincat having success in the NHL.

 

[simon IC]

I think you hit the nail on the head. MAYBE he was a slight reach, but there’s no way Perunovich would’ve made it to the 4th. The Blues got their guy in the first 2 rounds, not mad about it.

One thing people may be overlooking a bit about Perunovich is that he is probably closer to NHL ready than most of the other players who were available at 45. It would be HUGE if Perunovich could be a contributer in the NHL in 2 years.

This draft for the Blues was an interesting mix of guys who will most likely take quite a while to develop (Bokk/Hofer/Laferriere) and overage guys like Perunovich and McGinn who are most likely further along in their development (and hopefully closer to contributing in the NHL). I think this mix of longer term projects and hopefully sooner term contributors was a deliberate strategy from the scouting/management team. We’ll see if it pays off!

FWIW, the more I learn about Perunovich, the more I like the pick...tho I suppose that’s a pretty typical “shiny new toy” reaction.

Minor point, but if he is actually 164 lbs, he will need to put on some weight. He will get ragdolled. increasingly unhappy with this pick.

 

[PerryTurnbullfan]

I think you hit the nail on the head. MAYBE he was a slight reach, but there’s no way Perunovich would’ve made it to the 4th. The Blues got their guy in the first 2 rounds, not mad about it.

One thing people may be overlooking a bit about Perunovich is that he is probably closer to NHL ready than most of the other players who were available at 45. It would be HUGE if Perunovich could be a contributer in the NHL in 2 years.

This draft for the Blues was an interesting mix of guys who will most likely take quite a while to develop (Bokk/Hofer/Laferriere) and overage guys like Perunovich and McGinn who are most likely further along in their development (and hopefully closer to contributing in the NHL). I think this mix of longer term projects and hopefully sooner term contributors was a deliberate strategy from the scouting/management team. We’ll see if it pays off!

FWIW, the more I learn about Perunovich, the more I like the pick...tho I suppose that’s a pretty typical “shiny new toy” reaction.

He reminds me of one of those guys that end up being stars in Europe, but can't get it done here. Watched him play and man I just don't see it translating here with bigger faster players. I agree that we should have taken a flyer later in the draft, if we were really sold on him. He is a little guy and older. Just really don't like this pick this early.

 

[MissouriMook]

One of the things that concerns me is that both Bokk and Perunovich mentioned in their interviews that the team had talked to them before the draft and said they intended to take them. Certainly with the second pick, but arguably also with the first, there were guys left on the board who were rated higher than the guys we picked and filled an organizational need. For all the talk about best player available, I hope we didn’t lock in on “our guys” and leave a better player on the board just because we gave a prospect an assurance that we intended to draft them.

 

[STL fan in MN]

I’m fine with the pick. I would’ve rather had Wise or Thomas but obviously the Blues scouts know these kids better than me. I don’t like that CHI got Wise though. I think the Hawks had a fantastic draft, which sucks.

I didn’t get to watch much college hockey this year but did watch the national championship game. Perunovich was VERY noticeable. But yeah, he’s 5’9”. There are guys in the league that size but it still creates a huge hurdle.

 

[MortiestOfMortys]

One of the things that concerns me is that both Bokk and Perunovich mentioned in their interviews that the team had talked to them before the draft and said they intended to take them. Certainly with the second pick, but arguably also with the first, there were guys left on the board who were rated higher than the guys we picked and filled an organizational need. For all the talk about best player available, I hope we didn’t lock in on “our guys” and leave a better player on the board just because we gave a prospect an assurance that we intended to draft them.

Perunovich was a reach for sure. Bokk should have gone in the teens, just like Thomas and Fabbri before him. Just wait till you see what he does in camp

 

[The Note in MI]

Threw together a video of most every shift of Perunovich in the NCAA Championship game. Quality is mediocre and it got downsized because of YouTube for some reason.

 

[David Dennison]

One of the things that concerns me is that both Bokk and Perunovich mentioned in their interviews that the team had talked to them before the draft and said they intended to take them. Certainly with the second pick, but arguably also with the first, there were guys left on the board who were rated higher than the guys we picked and filled an organizational need. For all the talk about best player available, I hope we didn’t lock in on “our guys” and leave a better player on the board just because we gave a prospect an assurance that we intended to draft them.

Assurances at the draft dont mean much, it just takes one team drafting in front of you to take the player or another player you like more to fall to make that assurance moot. Bokk was ranked 18 on MacKenzie's list, so there was no guarantee at all that he was going to be there. He also didnt really fill an organizational need, so I dont necessarily buy that line of reasoning either.

The Blues come up with their own list of BPA, and I am sure it varies widely from other teams' lists or Bob MacKenzie's aggregated list. Its entirely possible that they had Bokk in their top 10-15 prospects.

Bottom line is if a 'best player available' is slipping down the boards, its because none of the teams who have drafted thought that he was the best player available when they drafted. If teams are staying away from a prospect, there is probably a legitimate reason for it.

 

[MortiestOfMortys]

For those of you looking for any video of Perunovich, here’s the National Championship game. Sorry if not allowed, but it’s youtube so...

I got a nice lazy Sunday going on here so I decided to watch this. Somebody already posted Scotty’s shift-by-shift, but I’ll offer my notes too.

Through one period, they’ve used Perunovich (#7) sparingly. Defensively, I would characterize him as passive. He has a good stick, but he’ll need to learn how to get his body between a checking forward and the puck to handle his duties effectively. His breakout passing is very good, he’s got good vision. He also has the ability to carry it with speed, but again he seems shy against bigger competition. In general, doesn’t seem to be super effective on the backcheck, but his stick is live enough that he’s made some nifty plays. He’ll need to improve that aspect a lot to get to use the parts of his game that make him effective. On the line, he reminds me a bit of Walman in that he can make good plays under pressure and find the open man or get a shot off. First period ends with UMD on the PP, so we’ll see what he does with that in the second.

Additionally I’m paying attention to our AHL-signee Jared Thomas. Big #22 is playing on what has been far and away UMDs best line so far. Bucci and Melrose have actually been calling it the “Thomas Line” so far. He’s been on the ice for both UMD goals, scoring one of those with a really nice play down low on a bad angle shot that resulted directly from his overpowering forecheck on CBJ-draftee Andrew Peeke. I really like the way he’s gotten around the ice, even more so for a bigger guy. I’ve liked his game better than Tufte’s, but there are matchup factors at play there too. Nevertheless, he seems like a Poganski-type that can play a tough game and chip in some scoring.

More to come...