This is certainly not the rookie season Scott Perunovich was hoping for. The St. Louis Blues defenseman will undergo shoulder surgery Friday and is out for the remainder of the 2020-21 season. He is expected to be healthy and ready for the 2021-22 season, but he’ll need a new contract since his expires at the end of this one. Perunovich is scheduled to become a restricted free agent.
It’s brutal news for the 2020 Hobey Baker Award winner, who ended up signing a two-year, entry-level contract in July after three years at the University of Minnesota-Duluth. Selected 45th overall in 2018, the 22-year-old defenseman has huge offensive upside and was expected to challenge for a spot on the Blues roster right away. Instead, he won’t even play his first professional game until next season.
That certainly does make it a complicated contract situation, given that Perunovich will no longer be limited to entry-level compensation. He will not be arbitration-eligible, meaning he doesn’t have much leverage, but he is also a highly touted prospect who could command more than just his one-year qualifying offer. It will be interesting to see how the Blues navigate that negotiation.
For now, though, it’s just disappointing that hockey fans won’t get to see Perunovich on the ice this season.
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