Jun 27, 2014; Philadelphia, PA, USA; Brendan Perlini smiles as he puts on a team sweater after being selected as the number twelve overall pick to the Arizona Coyotes in the first round of the 2014 NHL Draft at Wells Fargo Center. Mandatory Credit: Bill Streicher-USA TODAY Sports
Can I blame this on Dustin Brown? No? Ah, well then.
In some unsurprising news, Brendan Perlini has joined the ever-growing list of players and prospects who have suffered significant injuries during the pre-season this year. His, which was the result of a slash taken to the hand during rookie camp earlier this month, has resulted in his need for hand surgery.
There’s no clear timeline for how long Perlini will be out, as is the case with a couple of other league-wide injuries. He will now join players such as Pavel Datsyuk, Derek Stepan, Beau Bennett, and Jordan Staal in being sidelined during the rest of preseason play- and potentially into the season.
Puck Prose
Many are probably looking at that list and wondering why Perlini is even grouped in with players such as Staal and Datsyuk, who will be out for three to four months and six to eight weeks, respectively. It’s strange to even group Perlini in with Bennett, who has contributed to the Pittsburgh Penguins’ offense for a few years now. After all, the chance of Perlini making the Coyotes roster this fall was next to nonexistent- it has already been announced that he will be returning to his OHL franchise once training camp and preseason are over.
It’s no secret that the Coyotes organization has high hopes for Perlini. Drafted thirteenth overall this summer in Philadelphia, the firecracker winger has already proven that he could join the already-rich offensive prospect pool in Arizona, which suggests that the team has a bright future ahead of it.
So, the catch to having the 18-year-old sit out the rest of training camp? He’s going to miss out on valuable time spent with his future teammates before heading back to the juniors.
Due to his age, Perlini doesn’t qualify to play in the majors for an AHL franchise. It’s all or nothing for players under twenty- either they jump straight onto their teams’ rosters straight out of the draft, or they head back to the team they came from. This means that Perlini will have to wait another eight or nine months to train with the big boys- he’s only missing out on a few weeks of development with the NHL team, but those few weeks are pretty important.
The real moral of the story here, though? IT’S PRESEASON- STOP HURTING EACH OTHER SO BADLY.
Jeez Louise.