Is Wheeler more accurate? He said the concern's about Gabe's skating are overblown and he probably has above average speed with the potential to add more power
Draft Round 1 #23: New York Rangers Select RW Gabriel Perreault (Boston College, NCAA)
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Amazing Kreiderman
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Wheeler made a borderline HHOF-career out of reading the game and getting to where he needs to be on time, without being a fast skater.
Skating-wise, Wheeler is a good comp. If Perreault can use his hockey IQ to make up for his skating (Which isn't bad, it's just not Hughes/MacKinnon/McDavid level), Perreault can be a great player in the NHL.
UnSandvich
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"The biggest concerns we have with Perreault are with his skating and athleticism. To be fair, we think he has worked on these aspects of his game over the course of the season; for example, we saw significant progress in his compete level. If your skating is problematic, one way to hide some of those deficiencies is to have an irreproachable compete level, which is exactly what we saw from Perreault in the 2nd half of the year. He started winning more puck battles, his effort away from the puck was very good, and so was his stickwork (that helped him steal pucks away from opponents). But skating in itself is still a weak part of his game. He’s slow off the gate, his acceleration lacks explosiveness (which can be due to his lack of power), and his top speed is only average. It’s ugly, but he does get from point A to point B at a decent enough level.
Athletically-speaking, he lacks power, coordination and fluidity, leading to an overall combination of size and skating that is not ideal. But with his brilliant mind and improved compete level, there are signs that it won’t affect him too much going forward. We saw his on-ice stability improve as well, so his speed did show more as the season progressed. How will his skating look when he’s able to add power to his stride? He won’t ever become elite in that department, but there is hope for enough improvement for it to be less problematic at the pro level. As previously mentioned, due to his speed, he's not the best choice for taking the puck up ice in transition play. He may not be able to separate himself sufficiently from opposing players for it to be an effective move, but his quick thinking and playmaking skills still make him valuable in transition."
2023 Black Book writeup
I think the poster was referring to Scott Wheeler, the other Athletic prospects writer
Athletically-speaking, he lacks power, coordination and fluidity, leading to an overall combination of size and skating that is not ideal. But with his brilliant mind and improved compete level, there are signs that it won’t affect him too much going forward. We saw his on-ice stability improve as well, so his speed did show more as the season progressed. How will his skating look when he’s able to add power to his stride? He won’t ever become elite in that department, but there is hope for enough improvement for it to be less problematic at the pro level. As previously mentioned, due to his speed, he's not the best choice for taking the puck up ice in transition play. He may not be able to separate himself sufficiently from opposing players for it to be an effective move, but his quick thinking and playmaking skills still make him valuable in transition."
2023 Black Book writeup
I think the poster was referring to Scott Wheeler, the other Athletic prospects writer
Amazing Kreiderman
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bleedblue94
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Listening to some of you defend his skating and mock scouting reports is hard to take after literal years of some of the same people arguing that lias wasn't a bad skater or mocking other that said he was. Gabe is a much better skater than lias, but I have PTSD from so many people saying there were no issues there and it was overblown. That shorthanded goal in the preseason against the devils where he scored on one of the ugliest breakaway strides in a history of hockey was a perfect example when everybody was trying to make fun of any comments about his bad skating. The guy was f***ing terrible. I'm scarred from him still. That being said, Gabe is going to be a legitimate NHL player simply because of the way he thinks the game
TheGortonConspiracy
Wow its a nice GM
He is still pretty lean at 5'11" 165lbs. He won't have a powerful stride until he puts on another 15-20 lbs - most of which has to be muscle (see: lafreniere, alexis)
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Honestly I don’t remember anyone really defending Lias‘ skating. (Which doesn’t mean it didn’t happen, just that maybe it wasn’t prevalent) I do remember people saying it wouldn’t necessarily keep him from being effective.
I’m not really commenting on perreaults stride and all, just how he kept with the pace on the ice and to me his agility also seemed good. Adding some power could also drastically help his skating as yeah he lacks some pop to it
According to Peca he was like 130-140 a year ago so he is halfway there and improving.
The S5
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He's still in his teenage body.
What is most important about this kid is his production and vision. Forget about these guys you see critiquing his skating. These are the same guys that critique Adam Fox's skating.
What is most important about this kid is his production and vision. Forget about these guys you see critiquing his skating. These are the same guys that critique Adam Fox's skating.
bleedblue94
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There were pages of arguments that his skating issues were overblown. I think a lot of people have blocked it from memory bc of how disappointing the entire lias experiment was. cuylle makes me feel better haha
Synergy27
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I don’t remember anyone arguing about Lias’ skating. But what else was there about Lias to get excited about? Intangibles?
Again, Gabe is by no means a bad skater, but even if he was, he has absolutely elite IQ and vision. These things can overcome bad skating.
He just needs to grow into his body and hopefully get quite a bit stronger. He will not be held back by skills.
Again, Gabe is by no means a bad skater, but even if he was, he has absolutely elite IQ and vision. These things can overcome bad skating.
He just needs to grow into his body and hopefully get quite a bit stronger. He will not be held back by skills.
I'd say thats probably the earliest.
I'm not ready to mark him down for 3 NCAA seasons because we just don't know how he's going to grow physically. Stepan took 2 and he was built similarly to Perreault when he went into his freshman season at Wisconsin.
So yeah, 2025 at the earliest and a safe bet to be in the NHL by 2026. I can't imagine him needing to cut his teeth in the AHL, his game is pretty close to ready right now.
GAGLine
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I don't understand the need to project what he will be. He's a quality prospect who is doing well as an 18 year old in the NCAA. I'm happy about that and hope it means good things for the future, but I'll worry about that future when it gets here.
Perrault said his plan was 2 years in college, so 25 might be a little early, unless he explodes even more.
2 in college and maybe some ahl time.
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GAGLine
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I think a lot will depend on what Smith and Leonard do. I could see all 3 staying for a 2nd year at BC if they don't win a championship this year, but I doubt any of them stay for a 3rd year. At that point, it comes down to whether or not Gabe is ready for the NHL. We won't really know until we see him against NHL competition.
Smith is in the nhl likely once this season is over, same with Leonard is my guess.
Perrault stays for a year longer would be my guess.
Smith shouldn't turn pro after this year either IMO. If Quinn stays he definitely shouldn't.
Leonard can. He's physically ready and a bunch of his game is pro ready as well. I don't know that there would be any added benefit to staying the additional year. He is what he is and it may be best for him to hone those skills at the NHL level. I expect his numbers to really pop after the WJCs.
