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

[ElLeetch]

Easiest thing to improve at the next level is skating and it's his only weakness. If he turns into an average skater he's PPG potential... Flyers Bonked on their second pick

He's already an average skater. Just because his skating isn't excellent/outstanding/elite/etc, doesn't mean its bad.

 

[thefutures]

Should be unbustable the way people are talking here

 

[SannywithoutCompy]

Kings wanted to trade up and nab him. No one would budge.

He was nearly out of the frying pan and into the fire of forward prospect development

 

[Siludin]

I would have been happy with Perreault at 11 for the Canucks. It seems like all of the 10-25 selections were their own tier and you could flip anyone in and our of their respective spots and nobody would blink an eye.

 

[Hollel]

I would have been happy with Perreault at 11 for the Canucks. It seems like all of the 10-25 selections were their own tier and you could flip anyone in and our of their respective spots and nobody would blink an eye.

I’d agree and I’d say you could stretch that tier all the way to 27(musty + Ritchie)

 

[Kobe Armstrong]

Should be unbustable the way people are talking here

I think his brother busting probably didn't do him any favors in the draft.

 

[2014nyr]

I think his brother busting probably didn't do him any favors in the draft.

think it was a few different things, although i don't think steal is the right way to look at a consensus top 10-15 pick who "fell" to 23. he was great value at that spot, i really like the pick, but it's hard to call him a steal. there was a big group in that range that were largely seen as pretty interchangeable. some teams value certain positions/player types/body types over others, some teams are more skeptical of certain perceived weaknesses, and juniors superlines are always a bit scary because it often turns out at least one guy was more a beneficiary of the others than a driver. we're not going to know much of anything for a few years anyway, so labeling him anything at this point is purely because we need something to talk about.

 

[Icebreakers]

It's crazy that they will all be playing together at BC. Has anyone had the same linemates for 3-4 years leading up to the NHL? Could be be beneficial or a detriment?

 

[Pavel Buchnevich]

Thrilled to get Perreault where we did. At 23, you simply can't expect to get a guy with that type of offensive ability. Not like he fell either due to character concerns, medical, or anything that's actually very concerning.

His weaknesses are way overrated. People say he's a bad skater, and I just don't agree. To an extent, it's like the people that knocked Zegras skating and said it'd hold him back, although I think Zegras was at least a little better. Perreault's skating problem is a pace problem. His raw skating actually saw some pretty good improvements from his U17 season to his U18 season.

If you want to knock the pace he plays at, by all means. He plays at a slower pace. Not going to argue that, but that's also what makes him brilliant. Not every dude is going to rush the puck to the net as soon as they get it. Perreault scored the points he did this season because he has unbelievable sense, and passing/shooting ability/stick skills that aren't too far behind his sense. He's methodical about how he plays, and that brings about the slower pace.

He needs to continue to get stronger, and he's probably only going to ever be a one-way winger, but that's perfectly acceptable, if he scores. I don't see why he wouldn't score in the NHL, unless the Rangers just f*** him up, which they are definitely capable of doing.

 

[Raistlin]

The Rangers org need to keep him away from their coaches until the kid is a finished product. That's the only way he can achieve his potential.

 

[UnSandvich]

The Rangers org need to keep him away from their coaches until the kid is a finished product. That's the only way he can achieve his potential.

Eh. They hired his coach with the USA U18 team earlier this offseason lol

 

[The Crypto Guy]

Ranked as the 15th best prospect by Wheeler, nice.

15. Gabe Perreault, LW, 18 (New York Rangers — No. 23, 2023)​

I’ve stuck my neck out on Perreault for a year and I’m prepared to hold firm with my evaluation here, too. Eventually, when the points pile up like they did, and they happen making the kinds of plays that he did, you can’t ignore them. Say what you will, he’s now the NTDP’s single-season points record holder. He didn’t even pass Auston Matthews and Jack Hughes by a narrow margin when it was all said and done, either. There are many who’ve settled lower on Perreault because of the combination of his skinny frame (though he looked stronger all four times I bumped into him over the course of this season at the rink), the linemates he played with, and perceived questions about his skating.

I see a clever-beyond-belief facilitator and playmaker who plays the game with a light touch and a heady spatial awareness of not only where his teammates are, but where he is in the flow of play (and relative to defenders). The son of longtime NHLer Yanic Perreault and brother of Ducks prospect Jacob, Gabe doesn’t have his dad’s defensive acumen or his brother’s build (he’s listed at 165 pounds now), but he’s an intuitive, highly intelligent player who sees the play develop offensively at a more advanced level than his two family members did/do — and than almost anybody on this list does. He’s got extremely quick hands to complement that mind for the game offensively and allow him to execute the plays he sees. He problem-solves his way out of trouble as well as just about anyone on this list, too. He’s got dexterous tools catching, tipping and redirecting pucks. He arrives into space at exactly the right times to make himself available and finish plays. His ability to bait defenders and open them up so that he can slide passes through their feet is so impressive. He gets shots off extremely fast and without bobbles in catch-and-release sequences. He plans things out on the ice at speed and then finds ways to make his desired play. He’s a slick one-on-one player but will also wait that extra split second and then just sling a pass tape-to-tape across the grain. He has become a bit of a puck thief, consistently tracking back hard to empty the tank and make effort plays on lifts.

And he’s a better skater than he gets credit for, with above-average speed for my money and room to add power and pick up another step as he gets stronger. Because of his genetics, he should add the necessary weight and strength eventually. With the proper patience, I expect he’ll become a skilled playmaking winger

 

[ponder]

He fell for the same reasons Cristall did - somewhat undersized winger, doesn’t have explosive speed, plays at a slower pace.

FWIW, I think they both have plenty of potential to be steals, both super smart and talented offensively. But players of this profile do often bust, makes them risky picks that many teams tend to stay away from. With his upside, though, totally worth the risk at 23 IMO.

 

[Lavar Ball]

Ranked as the 15th best prospect by Wheeler, nice.

Quite the take for someone who just went 21st in the draft

Edit: 23rd

 

[The Crypto Guy]

Quite the take for someone who just went 21st in the draft

Edit: 23rd

Indeed

 

[Kupo]

Quite the take for someone who just went 21st in the draft

Edit: 23rd

"nice" is quite the take?

On a scale of 1-10, how much do you like to potato?

 

[Lavar Ball]

"nice" is quite the take?

On a scale of 1-10, how much do you like to potato?

Im talking about wheelers take not crypto guys

Regardless I'd go 8/10

 

[KirkAlbuquerque]

Not a sure thing by any means but by the time you get to 23 the pickings are slim even in a deep draft.

Nice to see the Rangers take a faller for once instead of reaching like they usually do.

 

[Kupo]

Im talking about wheelers take not crypto guys

Regardless I'd go 8/10

A lot of scouts and hockey nerds had him going earlier than 23.

 

[Raistlin]

A lot of scouts and hockey nerds had him going earlier than 23.

Position was not factored in for most of the mocks. All the fallers over the years are basically wingers with slower pace.

 

[ponder]

The current NHLer who he reminds me the most of is Matias Maccelli.

Maccelli doesn’t get much hype, because he’s a later round pick playing in Arizona. However, he’s a talented kid, just put up 49 points in 64 games as a 22 year old rookie, has PPG upside. Maccelli and Perrault have similar strengths/weaknesses IMO - both slightly small wingers, not explosive, play at a bit of a slower pace; but also both have extremely high hockey IQ, very creative, great passers, very good hands, and pretty elusive.

 

[Pavel Buchnevich]

It's all a crap-shoot in this draft after Bedard, Michkov, Fantilli, Carlsson, and Smith.

I mean, Ryan Leonard went 8th. I was listening to a podcast recently from a scout that said he had him 5th ahead of Will Smith. Leonard had 38 points less than Perreault and 33 less than Smith, and these aren't inconsequential players to compare him to. They were his line-mates almost all season.

People have all kinds of takes, and they'll justify it many ways. Everyone is entitled to their opinion. We'll have to see who ends up being right.

Wheeler is very much a champion of the smallboyz that get drafted lower than he ranks them due to their size and skating. If you read his work, you should already know that. He'll likely end up right on the occasional one, and wrong on most of them. Is that good or bad? Does it matter? I don't know, but that's what you get from Scott Wheeler.

 

[MNRube]

I don't know, but that's what you get from Scott Wheeler.

Pronman was the same way for a long time.

 

[Lavar Ball]

A lot of scouts and hockey nerds had him going earlier than 23.

Yes I realize but ranking him as the 15th best prospect in hockey right out of the gate is probably the highest I have seen of anyone on him tbh

 

[Kupo]

Yes I realize but ranking him as the 15th best prospect in hockey right out of the gate is probably the highest I have seen of anyone on him tbh

McKenzie had him at 10. So did Central Hockey. Peters had him at 11. FC 14. Button had him at 15.