Perezhogin began his playing career in his homeland of
Kazakhstan before leaving in 1998, with his coach Sergei Gersonsky, to play for
Avangard Omsk's farm team Avangard VDV. He would then gain Russian citizenship upon his recruitment. Perezhogin remained with the Omsk organization for the remainder of his Russian league career before being drafted. Perezhogin was drafted by the
Montreal Canadiens in the first round of the
2001 NHL entry draft, 25th overall. In the 2003-04 season, Perezhogin came to North America to play with the
Hamilton Bulldogs, Montreal's
American Hockey League (AHL) affiliate. He played with the
Montreal Canadiens for two seasons. During Perezhogin's suspension from the AHL for his stick-swinging incident on
Garrett Stafford, on the advice of
Bob Gainey and the Montreal Canadiens, he re-joined his former team,
Avangard Omsk of the
Russian Superleague (RSL), and scored 33 points in 43 games. In total, Perezhogin tallied 55 points in 95 games in his career with Avangard. He scored his first NHL goal on a break-away in his first career game, on October 6, 2005, at
Madison Square Garden against
New York Rangers goaltender Kevin Weekes. On May 8, 2007, Perezhogin signed a contract with
Salavat Yulayev Ufa of the
Russian Superleague. He would earn nearly $1.8 million US, almost three times his NHL salary during the
2006-07 season. The Montreal Canadiens still hold his NHL rights as he is a restricted
free agent. In April 2009, Perezhogin was invited to represent
Russia in the
2009 IIHF World Championship hosted in
Switzerland, where he played along the sides of Russian
NHL superstars such as
Ilya Kovalchuk and five of his teammates from
Salavat Yulaev Ufa. Russia won its second consecutive gold medal against Canada on May 10, 2009. In April 2010, Perezhogin was traded to once again join his former team,
Avangard Omsk, with
Salavat Yulaev Ufa receiving
Igor Volkov in return. ==Stick swinging incident==