St. Louis Blues: Four Players The Blues Should Look At During Camp

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BUFFALO, NY – APRIL 13: Scott Perunovich #7 of the Minnesota Duluth Bulldogs skates against the Massachusetts Minutemen during the 2019 NCAA Division I Men’s Hockey Frozen Four Championship final at the KeyBank Center on April 13, 2019 in Buffalo, New York. The Bulldogs won the game 3-0 and captured their second consecutive NCAA national championship. (Photo by Richard T Gagnon/Getty Images) /

Scott Perunovich

Like Kostin, Scott Perunovich has some question marks about him – not his abilities, but his availability. If not mandated to come, would he want to attend Blues camp or would his parents not want him involved due to the pandemic?

Again, all things equal, you need to start getting a sense of how Perunovich might hold up against professional players. He had great improvement in each year in college.

Perunovich showed his worth by helping win a national title and also winning several postseason awards in the NCAA. The main question with him is defense.

His offensive game is sound. However, his college coaches said he made great strides with his defensive game, which is good to hear.

The reason to bring Perunovich to this camp is two-fold.

Like the others, he needs to get as much ice time as he can, when he can, due to the unforeseen nature of the minor league season next year. A complete lost year for someone like Perunovich could be disastrous.

He needs to play, or at least practice. Now that he’s signed his entry level contract, he cannot return to college – though there may be no college season either.

Beyond the pandemic issues, the Blues need to see where his game is at in any way, shape or form. The Blues have important decisions to make regarding free agents.

Perunovich’s readiness could factor into their decisions. Of course, you’d rather keep the known commodities like Alex Pietrangelo and Vince Dunn.

Still, Dunn and Perunovich play a similar style. Both are offense first and defense afterward.

Both have similar builds too. Of course, Dunn is thicker, outweighing Perunovich by about 25 lbs, but a good offseason program can help close that gap.

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If nothing else, even if we knew there would be an AHL season and all the free agents would return, it would be good for the young defender. He needs to get a taste of how quick, strong and tough the NHL players are.

The sooner that reality comes, the sooner he can buckle down and do all he needs to do to make the league. What better time than now?

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