British-Canadian left winger Brendan Perlini, 28, has signed a contract to play the remainder of the 2024-25 season in Switzerland with Lausanne HC, the National League club announced on Wednesday.
Perlini has only played four games this season with KHL club Spartak Moscow, recording one assist. In January, his contract was terminated “at the player’s initiative.”
“With his big frame, Brendan has a style of play focused on speed,” said Lausanne sports director John Fust. “He’s an experienced player who has the advantage of already knowing our league. His arrival is very beneficial for our group with the playoffs on the horizon.”
Perlini joins a Lausanne team that currently leads the National League standings with 92 points in 46 games – 12 points ahead of second-place Zurich with six regular-season games remaining. The team includes Austrian winger Michael Raffl, Finnish center Janne Kuokkanen, American defenseman Gavin Bayreuther and Swedish defenseman Lawrence Pilut. The team’s coach is former Calgary Flames bench boss Geoff Ward.
Born in Guildford, England in 1996 while his father Fred Perlini played for the Guildford Flames, Brendan grew up in Sault Ste. Marie, Ont. and played junior hockey for the Barrie Colts and Niagara Ice Dogs of the OHL. He was taken in the first round, 12th overall, by the Arizona Coyotes in the 2014 NHL Entry Draft.
Between 2016 and 2022, Perlini recorded 81 points and 92 penalty minutes in 262 NHL games with the Coyotes, Chicago Blackhawks, Detroit Red Wings and Edmonton Oilers. During the pandemic-delayed 2020-21 season, he also played 21 games for HC Ambri-Piotta in Switzerland.
He went to the training camp of the Florida Panthers in 2023 and played in some pre-season games but spent the season in the AHL with the Charlotte Checkers.
A dual citizen of Canada and the United Kingdom, Perlini represented Canada at the 2014 IIHF U-18 World Championship and the 2016 World Junior Championship. He also played for Team Canada at the 2022 Spengler Cup.
Brendan’s older brother Brett is a long-time member of the British national team, having played in four elite-level World Championships, and is a member of the EIHL’s Cardiff Devils, who won this year’s IIHF Continental Cup.