Brendan Perlini’s mire as a nightly healthy scratch, unable to break into the Blackhawks’ lineup, mercifully ended Monday.
A week after Perlini requested a trade, the Hawks obliged and dealt the 23-year-old forward to the Red Wings in exchange for prospect defenseman Alec Regula.
Despite scoring 12 goals in 46 appearances with the Hawks last season, Perlini wasn’t re-signed this summer until just before training camp began and was never able to rediscover his place in the roster. He’d appeared in just one of the Hawks’ first 10 games.
Reports surfaced recently that Perlini wished to find a new NHL home and he solemnly confirmed that after practice last Friday.
“Obviously, I haven’t gotten in many games this year,” he said. “That’s why I play the game — that’s to play hockey, not miss games and stuff. It’s tough.”
The rebuilding Red Wings, losers of eight consecutive games entering Monday, will certainly offer Perlini more opportunities to make an impact.
In return, the Hawks landed Regula, a 2018 third-round pick playing with the London Knights of the OHL — where he was a teammate of Adam Boqvist last season, and where he will remain for the rest of this season, despite the trade.
Regula, 19, has good size at 6-foot-4, 207 pounds, and has roared out of the gate with London, tallying 11 points in 10 games.
Moving Perlini’s roughly $875,000 cap hit also gives the Hawks a bit more financial flexibility, most notably allowing them to retain Kirby Dach even once Connor Murphy returns in a few weeks from injured reserve.
