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C/W Gabe Perreault - Boston College, NCAA (2023, 23rd, NYR)

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Levitate said:
Inthink he definitely had another level of play at the NCAA. He could stand to get more explosive with his skating (not necessarily faster just more leg strength for more burst in his starts) and overall stronger, in addition to probably just having another level of comfort with the game

But he’ll probably need those improvements to excel at the NHL level so however he gets them is likely the best path forward to him
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exactly this. the college schedule is much more accommodative to developing strength with the additional practice and off ice training time it allows versus a pro schedule. he won't need any time adjusting to the pro game in the ahl as long as he's physically ready for pro hockey, his skill and iq are elite.

i also think there's a strong possibility that both smith and leonard make the jump after this season. while i don't by any means consider him a passenger on that line, you'd have to be delusional to think that any of them don't benefit from having linemates of that quality and the chemistry they've built from years of playing together. it doesn't change anything if they don't, but it's a realistic possibility that he'll have a season where he has to be more of "the guy", which is something i think he stands to benefit from at that level as well.
 
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He's having the third best U-19 scoring season in the modern era of the NCAA behind Fantilli and Eichel.

As of now, I think he has to be the Hobey Baker favorite. Been the best player on the best team in the country, and he's right there in the main scoring categories (3rd in points, 2nd in PPG). You could certainly make an argument for McGroarty or Celebrini too, but McGroarty doesn't really play on one of the best teams, and Celebrini's numbers are a little behind Perreault too. Either way, he should have a good chance to win the award.
 
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Pavel Buchnevich said:
He's having the third best U-19 scoring season in the modern era of the NCAA behind Fantilli and Eichel.

As of now, I think he has to be the Hobey Baker favorite. Been the best player on the best team in the country, and he's right there in the main scoring categories (3rd in points, 2nd in PPG). You could certainly make an argument for McGroarty or Celebrini too, but McGroarty doesn't really play on one of the best teams, and Celebrini's numbers are a little behind Perreault too. Either way, he should have a good chance to win the award.
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As much as I love Perreault, Celebrini has the best numbers and has the most impact in college hockey.

From a purely numbers perspective, 21+18 in 24GP is more impressive than 12+29 in 25 GP.
 
QJL said:
As much as I love Perreault, Celebrini has the best numbers and has the most impact in college hockey.

From a purely numbers perspective, 21+18 in 24GP is more impressive than 12+29 in 25 GP.
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Yeah Perreault also plays with 2023 4th pick Will Smith and 8th (38 pts) pick Leonard (32 pts) from the 2023 draft. On the powerplay they also have 2022 5th pick Cutter Gauthier (34 pts).

Celebrini isnt surrounded by the same quality of teammates.

Still Perreault looks like a steal and might be better than his friends who where drafted 4th and 8th the same year.
 
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The Crypto Guy said:
Really hard to justify that statement after his WJC and his freshman season at BC.

As of right now at the very least he is on par with the 4th and 8th overall picks, and is more of the line driver than he was given credit for in his draft year.
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Offensively, he's always been an elite player, and I think his points ceiling is just as high as Smith's. But I think his overall game lags behind the other two, and his game isn't necessarily as projectable. He makes a lot of bad turnovers still, and his skating and physical strength are going to make it hard for him at the next level, which won't a be as much of a problem for Leonard and Smith.

That said, I had the three of them much tighter in my rankings than their draft positions (Smith at 8, Leonard at 14 and Perreault at 17). If everything works out for him, he could be a legit top line offensive player for the Rangers.
 
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The Crypto Guy said:
Really hard to justify that statement after his WJC and his freshman season at BC.

As of right now at the very least he is on par with the 4th and 8th overall picks, and is more of the line driver than he was given credit for in his draft year.
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How? Nothing has changed from last year...all 3 are doing the same things they did last year, just in a different league. The stuff people questioned about all of them (not just Perrault) still are unanswered.

They need to be separated.
 
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Stewie Griffin said:
How? Nothing has changed from last year...all 3 are doing the same things they did last year, just in a different league. The stuff people questioned about all of them (not just Perrault) still are unanswered.

They need to be separated.
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There was many people saying that Perreault was just riding the coattails of Smith and Leonard last year, that has been proven false this year.
 
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Stewie Griffin said:
How? Nothing has changed from last year...all 3 are doing the same things they did last year, just in a different league. The stuff people questioned about all of them (not just Perrault) still are unanswered.

They need to be separated.
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This isn’t true. I don’t think anyone expected this season from Perreault. Maybe they expected him to score a lot, but not to this degree.
 
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The Crypto Guy said:
There was many people saying that Perreault was just riding the coattails of Smith and Leonard last year, that has been proven false this year.
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The thing is we still don't know who is making who better out of the 3. By going to certain areas one of them creates space for the other two and vice versa, and their chemistry is so good we really need to see them play with other players.

They're so difficult to evaluate until they move on from BC.
 
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Celebrini is a high school senior (13 months younger than Perreault) and one of the youngest draft eligibles for 2024 playing college hockey who is within an earshot of Perreault's production. I don't think there is really any comparison as to who the better prospect is.

Also the skating criticisms for Perreault are overblown to all f***. Peep the way he was weaving through the NZ before he scored his 2nd goal vs BU on Monday and tell me with a straight face that it's going to be an issue for him.

He isn't MacKinnon (who is?) but he moves more than just fine and as he gets stronger those strides will have more pop.
 
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WhiskeyYerTheDevils said:
Offensively, he's always been an elite player, and I think his points ceiling is just as high as Smith's. But I think his overall game lags behind the other two, and his game isn't necessarily as projectable. He makes a lot of bad turnovers still, and his skating and physical strength are going to make it hard for him at the next level, which won't a be as much of a problem for Leonard and Smith.

That said, I had the three of them much tighter in my rankings than their draft positions (Smith at 8, Leonard at 14 and Perreault at 17). If everything works out for him, he could be a legit top line offensive player for the Rangers.
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agree on leonard. he is who he is, he's got the skillset to be good in the nhl and that game always translates. re smith though, watching a fair amount of them this year, i don't agree. for one, the skating thing with perrault just isn't an issue. he's not connor mcdavid and he never will be. he's not trying to be though. as a skater he's demonstrated all year he's got more than enough speed, but more importantly, he's got fantastic control/balance as a skater. being able to move any direction at any time and being able to control play with his pace are his foundation and he's very strong in those areas. he's been really impressive with handling bad passes or grabbing loose pucks he has to reach for without losing speed or full body control...and he has the puck in control almost instantly. he certainly needs to get stronger skating through contact and, like everyone, would benefit from any pop he adds to his first step - but the former will certainly and the latter will likely come to an uncertain degree as he gets stronger. there's no question at all re whether or not he can skate well enough to play in the nhl - only when he'll be ready for it physically. his iq is also a cut about either of his linemates....i mean watching him closely he is incredible at timing his pace joining plays off the puck to hit a lane at the right time or conversely, controlling play with his pace to create spacing that opens up a passing lane on the puck. on the downside, he has certainly been responsible than you'd want to see, but it seems like most are getting outmuscled on pucks or losing the handle. i almost never see him put a puck in a bad area moving it. i have zero concerns about him being an nhl player, the only question is when.

smith to me is the wildcard. like gabe he needs to get a lot stronger, but he has to more work to do to get where he'd be capable of playing the game he wants to at the nhl level. he wants to play a high pace game challenging defenders 1 on 1 all the time or beat them wide, and struggles to do those things in college right now. now, he might make some major physical jumps that give him the pace he needs. i think that's entirely possible, it's just a bigger uncertainty for me. he also has a turnover issue, but i see more of the concerning type with him than with perrault. smith gets the puck poked off his stick way too often to take on as many players as he does, and he will make passes that he should definitely see are taken away - something you very rarely see from perrault. obviously there's a ton to like about smith's game, and he very well could turn out to be great. as far as nhl futures though, at the moment i definitely see more from smith that makes me wonder if he can get to where he needs to be physically and as a skater to play the game he wants to - and the turnovers being more related to bad decisions isn't ideal.
 
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WhiskeyYerTheDevils said:
Offensively, he's always been an elite player, and I think his points ceiling is just as high as Smith's. But I think his overall game lags behind the other two, and his game isn't necessarily as projectable. He makes a lot of bad turnovers still, and his skating and physical strength are going to make it hard for him at the next level, which won't a be as much of a problem for Leonard and Smith.

That said, I had the three of them much tighter in my rankings than their draft positions (Smith at 8, Leonard at 14 and Perreault at 17). If everything works out for him, he could be a legit top line offensive player for the Rangers.
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Overall game? I’ll give you project ability just based on the physical tools that Smith and Leonard possess, but Smith, like Gauthier, is a pretty low IQ player all over the rink.

Leonard is 100% the total package, basically a guaranteed quality NHLer but Perrault is better than Smith at pretty much everything except “looking” more impressive skating with the puck.
 
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