Brendan Perlini Finally Takes The Steering Wheel In Chicago

It’s taken some time for winger Brendan Perlini to rev up his engine in the Windy City, but he’s put the pedal to the metal recently and is finally feeling comfortable with the Blackhawks. The 22-year-old arrived in Chicago on November 25th in a trade along with center and fellow first-round draft pick Dylan Strome from Arizona while forward Nick Schmaltz headed west to the desert.

The key player in the deal was Strome, but the Blackhawks may have also hit the jackpot with the 6-foot-3-inch, 210 lb Perlini of Guildford, England. In fact, it’s a trade the Coyotes may quickly come to regret as both Strome and Perlini are hitting their stride in Chicago as somewhat late bloomers.

Arizona did receive a fine player in return in the 23-year-old Schmaltz, but he was lost for the rest of the season at the end of December due to a knee injury. Schmaltz notched 14 points in 17 games before the injury however and didn’t take long at all to gel with his new squad.

But even with Schmaltz appearing to be the real deal in Arizona, it looks like the Coyotes gave up two strong players in the swap and also gave up on them too early. Strome has posted 14 goals and 43 points in 46 outings with the Blackhawks and Perlini has 10 goals and 13 points in 35 contests.

Perlini was taken with the 12th overall draft pick by Arizona in 2014 and his progress in the first two years could be considered slow but steady. He exhibited a fine scoring touch in the AHL with Tucson in 2016/17 with 14 goals and 19 points in 17 games. At this point in time he was following suit as he had racked up 93 goals and 188 points in 217 career OHL contests with the Barrie Colts and Niagara Falls Ice Dogs of the Ontario Hockey League.

Once the level of opposition rose in the NHL when Perlini broke into the league the same season as he played in Tucson his production slipped a little. He posted 14 goals and 21 points in 57 outings as a rookie and was a minus-4 while playing 14:50 minutes per night.

In his sophomore NHL season he managed 17 goals and 13 points, was a minus-2 and played 14:31 minutes per game in 74 appearances. The numbers were nothing to sneeze at, but compared to some other 2014 first-round draft picks such as Leon Draisaitl, David Pastrnak and Sebastian Aho they were perhaps a little on the low side.

However, Perlini’s development seemed to stagnate this season with just two goals and four assists in the first 22 games and he was suddenly on his way to Chicago with Strome. Unfortunately, his numbers didn’t improve as he scored just three goals and a single assist with his new team in the first 29 games. He then found himself in the press box on several occasions as a healthy scratch.

At the time, he told the Chicago Tribune “I’m stuck in a pickle here not really playing. The main thing for me in this situation is you’re going to have to shoot me in the head and kill me before I give up.”

Perlini got another chance to prove himself when Drake Caggiula was out of action due to a concussion and he was reinserted to the lineup. Head coach Jeremy Colliton stated, “We all believe in him and feel like he can help us get him over that hump. “He’s still a very young player. It’s an opportunity for him to take a step.”

This time around, Perlini upped his game and rediscovered the scoring touch he displayed in junior hockey and the AHL. He also concentrated more on his defensive duties, his work ethic and overall play without the puck.

Perlini’s confidence started to grow on March 2nd when he notched a pair of goals in a game against the Los Angeles Kings. Since then he’s added another six goals and a pair of assists for eight goals and 10 points in his last seven games as of Saint Patrick’s Day. This included a hat trick against his former Arizona Coyotes’ teammates on March 11th.

He’s now up to 13 goals and 20 points on the season, but his minus-15 rating on the season is a bit of concern to Colliton. But on the bright side it appears Perlini may have turned the corner and his play of late has helped the Blackhawks remain in the playoff hunt in the Western Conference. The team is five points behind the last wild card spot with a game in hand on Arizona and also trails the Minnesota Wild by three points.

Perlini has being playing on a line with Strome in the middle and Alex DeBrincat on the the other wing lately and the trio has gelled nicely. They’ll need to keep it up though if the Blackhawks have any chance at reaching the postseason. With Patrick Kane and Jonathan Toews also enjoying fine seasons it won’t be a complete surprise if they can pull it off.

Colliton has noticed the change in the youngster’s play over the past couple of weeks and told the Chicago Sun Times 
‘‘He seems to have a little life, a little more energy. The last few games, he’s shown a little more jam, a little more willingness to get involved and win races and win puck battles. Then it’s no coincidence he’s going to produce.”

Still, Perlini needs to perform consistently night after night to make sure he doesn’t find himself back in the coach’s doghouse again. He’s only seen an average of 11:37 minutes of ice time this season and he’d like to see that increase as his production rises.