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Draft Round 1 #23: New York Rangers Select RW Gabriel Perreault (Boston College, NCAA)

bhamill said:
Gotta say: if ANYONE is a passenger on this line, it’s SMITH. He gets way more benefit from Leonard and Gabe’s play than the other way around. I would have taken them in this past draft Smith first, Leonard, GP, but I think that has changed. We lucked the f*** out.
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Leonard was by far the least noticeable today. But Smith just made a lot of dumb choices with the puck. Gabe was the best player on the line today even if it wasn't the lines best game of the season (which it wasn't at all).
 
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bhamill said:
Gotta say: if ANYONE is a passenger on this line, it’s SMITH. He gets way more benefit from Leonard and Gabe’s play than the other way around. I would have taken them in this past draft Smith first, Leonard, GP, but I think that has changed. We lucked the f*** out.
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What I see is that the players on that line all bring different elements and strengths and together have chemistry. Perreault is the set up guy, Leonard is the physical force with a shoot first mentality and Smith has the best skating but also he knows where to be and he gets there when he needs to. When they go their separate ways it will be interesting to see how they will do because they are all going to have find new chemistry with players they're not familiar with. I think it bodes well for Perreault because he has very line oriented skill set somewhat similar to Panarin's but not quite as good of a skater......he'll have to work on that. I've seen a Marc Savard comp today but I've also seen that before. Gabriel does have an uncanny ability to make something out of nothing and he's stronger and more ready to battle for pucks than I thought going into this year.

Personally I don't like other teams. That said I don't see much point in running down either Smith or Leonard. I think they're both excellent prospects too. It's always easy to like your guy best. What I'm seeing so far though is Gabriel even if he went later in the first in last year's draft hasn't taken a backseat to Leonard or Smith at all and I like that a lot.
 
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eco's bones said:
What I see is that the players on that line all bring different elements and strengths and together have chemistry. Perreault is the set up guy, Leonard is the physical force with a shoot first mentality and Smith has the best skating but also he knows where to be and he gets there when he needs to. When they go their separate ways it will be interesting to see how they will do because they are all going to have find new chemistry with players they're not familiar with. I think it bodes well for Perreault because he has very line oriented skill set somewhat similar to Panarin's but not quite as good of a skater......he'll have to work on that. I've seen a Marc Savard comp today but I've also seen that before. Gabriel does have an uncanny ability to make something out of nothing and he's stronger and more ready to battle for pucks than I thought going into this year.

Personally I don't like other teams. That said I don't see much point in running down either Smith or Leonard. I think they're both excellent prospects too. It's always easy to like your guy best. What I'm seeing so far though is Gabriel even if he went later in the first in last year's draft hasn't taken a backseat to Leonard or Smith at all and I like that a lot.
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Leonard is the best skater but aside from that I think what you're saying here is exactly what is worrying about Smith. This isn't the guy carrying the transition/retrieval load or facilitating offense once the puck is in the OZ, most of that work is being done for him. As mentioned earlier, he's really overrated as a passer. He'll flash some really good deception but he beefs too many simple plays. He also is almost primarily a guy who needs space to create and he isn't very good about opening up that space either.

tl;dr - Smith needs more help to be successful than the other 2. There is no doubt that they all feed off one another but he has more hurdles to clear than the other 2 and he has the lowest IQ/poorest fundamentals of the 3. He has a long runway at BC and I hope for his sake the Sharks let him use it but there are more than a few orange flags trending red in his game for me.

I actually like Leonard the most of the 3. I feel like everything he does translates to the NHL and a lot of what he does for that line goes unnoticed because it isn't flashy or obvious. Hes the lowest maintenance of the 3 as he needs the least amount of help in order to be impactful.
 
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Yeah even with all of the stuff he's doing, I'd have a hard time justifying him going pro. 165 lbs is still 165 lbs.

I could see him (and his line mates) playing at the world championships this year though. Now if he goes and rips that apart as well then I don't know.
 
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GAGLine said:
You should think three times then, because he should definitely go back.
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Sure, but would you be surprised and not understand thought process if turns pro?
Sykora - from a draft year earlier - came to Hartford after just one D+1 season. Was he more prepared than Perreault will be next fall? Just wanted to point to a very recent example of a similar scenario. After what he’s done at BC so far and his performance at WJC it’s more difficult to argue that he’s not ready.
 
GENESISPuck94 said:
Don't worry, when the Rangers get their mitts on him, they'll bench and scratch the confidence and skill right out of him. None of that is allowed here. Hockey's different here.

Look at Bonino and Pitlick. That's what we want.
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Sad but true.
 
kovazub94 said:
Sure, but would you be surprised and not understand thought process if turns pro?
Sykora - from a draft year earlier - came to Hartford after just one D+1 season. Was he more prepared than Perreault will be next fall? Just wanted to point to a very recent example of a similar scenario. After what he’s done at BC so far and his performance at WJC it’s more difficult to argue that he’s not ready.
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Sykora weighs 180. Unless Perreault can get to that or close then yeah, he was more ready than Gabe will be next year.

It's not about his skill/production, its about allowing his body time to cook. Hes listed at 165 (no idea what hes at right now, but its clear that he isn't that big.) There aren't too many guys who are playing in the league right now who are sub 180, let alone sub 170.

I'd look for him to take the Stepan route - 2 years and then the show. Step put on 20-ish pounds between when he was drafted to when he signed, if Gabe can do something similar he'll be more than ready to move on by spring 2025.
 
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GoAwayPanarin said:
Why?

Because Kreider only stayed for 3 years because he wanted to put himself in a better position to graduate (which he did eventually.)
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Because he's 165 lbs.

And Kreider wasn't ready after 2 years. That third year helped immensely whether you think he wanted to stay there or not.
 
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