It is very rare to hear a player publicly admit that he is no longer happy with his current situation, especially at the National Hockey League level, but the candid nature of the comments made by Chicago Blackhawks forward Brendan Perlini on Friday likely speak to just how frustrated the young man has been as a member of the Blackhawks organization.
Earlier this week rumors began to circulate suggesting that Perlini, a 23 year old former 1st round draft selection (22nd overall) of the Arizona Coyotes at the 2014 NHL Entry Draft, had approached Blackhawks management regarding his desire to be traded and it would not be long before we received official confirmation of that news from the man himself. Madeline Kenney of the Chicago Sun Times had a chance to catch up with the frustrated young forward and he was more than willing to admit that he had indeed made a request to Chicago Blackhawks general manager Stan Bowman regarding the possibility of being traded to a new organization.
“Yeah, we’ve been exploring options,” said Perlini, who signed a one-year extension worth $847,124 with the Hawks in September. “I think a lot of that stuff is between myself and the team, myself and the agents. I let them handle it. I just continue to play.”
Although it is always frustrating for fans to see a player, especially a talented one like Perlini, demand to be moved off of their team there is good reason for Perlini's frustration here. Perlini was scratched in 7 of the last 8 games for which he was eligible to play in, and in fact has appeared in just a single game for the Blackhawks thus far in the 2019 - 2020 NHL regular season.
“Obviously I haven’t gotten in many games this year and stuff. That’s something for me, I feel like I got to play,” Perlini said as per the Sun Times. “That’s why I play the game, that’s to play hockey, not miss games and stuff. It’s tough.
“At the same time, I’ve been working hard, trying to do everything possible to try to get in the lineup and play, keep developing and stuff.”
Perlini of course joined the Blackhawks as part of the trade that sent center Nick Schmaltz to the Arizona Coyotes and although he appeared in 46 games for the Blackhawks following that trade his ice time was almost immediately cut back on, relative to the time he was getting with the Coyotes. Add that to the fact that he has seen very little playing time this season and it has become clear that there is simply not a good fit for both parties here. Whether or not the Blackhawks will acquiesce to Perlini's demand however remains to be seen.
