Photo by Sandro Halank, Wikimedia Commons, CC BY-SA 4.0
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Scott Perunovich
Los Angeles Kings Defense #48
A gifted small puck-mover who has spent five professional seasons unable to stay healthy or hold a spot.
| Season | GP | G | A | PTS | +/- | PIM | PP | SH | GW | S | S% | TOI |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2024-25 | 35 | 2 | 7 | 9 | -3 | 10 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 18 | 11.1 | 16:00 |
| Career | 108 | 2 | 30 | 32 | 0 | 30 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 68 | 2.9 | 15:32 |
Last Season
Two goals and nine points in 35 games, minus-three, on sixteen minutes a night. Across 108 career games he has 32 points, which is a real rate for a defenceman who cannot get into the lineup.
The Finesse Game
The passing is legitimately good. He was a college star for exactly this reason — he escapes pressure with his feet, makes a clean outlet under a forecheck, and can quarterback a power play at the AHL level and probably at this one. The vision is the best thing about him.
He does not shoot much and the shot is not heavy. The offence comes from moving the puck rather than from finishing.
The Physical Game
Five-ten and 175, and this is the whole problem. He cannot defend the front of his own net against NHL forwards, he loses wall battles to wingers, and the injuries that have shadowed his career are at least partly a consequence of playing this position at this size.
The Intangibles
A second-round pick and a Hobey Baker finalist whose professional career has been a series of interrupted starts. He has never played more than 50 games in a season.
He is twenty-eight now, past the point where the injuries can be treated as bad luck rather than a pattern. The skill is real, and it has never been available for long enough to matter.