Red Wings Acquire Forward Perlini from Blackhawks

The Detroit Red Wings acquired forward Brendan Perlini from the Chicago Blackhawks in return for defensive prospect Alec Regula on Monday.

UPDATE: The Detroit #RedWings today acquired left wing Brendan Perlini from the Chicago Blackhawks in exchange for defenseman Alec Regula. pic.twitter.com/QGboHrkLrq

— Detroit Red Wings (@DetroitRedWings) October 28, 2019

My snap judgement is that Perlini seems underwhelming and unnecessary.  Regula may not project to a future all-star but I don’t understand this deal.

That said…

Perlini is only 23 and a season removed from a 17-13-30 campaign with the Coyotes.  He wasn’t getting playing time with the Blackhawks.  The Red Wings’ offense is a mess.  There is definitely an opportunity in Detroit for him.

Of course, the flip side of that is that this is exactly the expectation for Adam Erne, who hasn’t exactly looked spectacular since joining the Red Wings.

With Perlini now on the roster, Evgeny Svechnikov will almost certainly rejoin the Grand Rapids Griffins, as will Givani Smith (though Smith was likely headed down with Erne and Justin Abdelkader coming back).  That roster math implies that the Red Wings are higher on Perlini than they are on Svechnikov.

I don’t know what to make of this one and I think I’ll have to leave it at that.