As Day 1 of NHL free agency has continued, the Los Angeles Kings and general manager Ken Holland have shifted their focus to adding more organizational depth and value contracts, including 27-year-old defenseman Scott Perunovich.
Reporting from later Wednesday morning indicates that the Kings are signing Perunovich to a one-year contract to add organizational depth on the blue line.
The Kings and Holland won't expect Perunovich to be a top-pairing defenseman this upcoming season. Los Angeles is taking a low-risk chance on a defenseman whose puck movement and offensive instincts could still translate to depth and NHL value on the blue line.
The Los Angeles Kings are betting on Scott Perunovich's offensive upside with a low-risk one-year contract
According to PuckPedia, the Kings have signed Perunovich to a one-year, two-way contract deal for the upcoming 2026-27 season. The deal is reportedly worth $850K in base value in the NHL and $650K in base value for the AHL.
In this past few years, Perunovich has played over 100 regular season games with the St. Louis Blues and New York Islanders.
Perunovich played this past regular season in the AHL with the Tucson Roadrunners, where he scored nine goals, 40 assists, and 49 total points in 64 games played. Before playing for the Roadrunners this past season, Perunovich was a regular contributor in the NHL with the Blues and the Islanders, but he was never able to fully solidify himself on any blue line in the league.
Perunovich was originally selected 45th overall in the second round by the Blues in the 2018 NHL Entry Draft, and he entered pro hockey as one of the highest-regarded defenseman coming from the college hockey ranks.
Even if he plays mostly in the AHL this upcoming season, it seems like Holland and the Kings see something in him because they're paying him a minimum of $650K on his one-year deal.
Compared to some of the other Kings' veteran free agent signings on Day 1 of free agency this offseason, Perunovich presents more of a low-risk flier on a puck-moving defenseman who could make a name for himself in training camp and the preseason this fall.
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