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

Wieters

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Mar 2, 2024
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I think it's just people perceiving Smith being a ton better than Perrault. Better? Sure, he earned that benefit of the doubt from his draft slot, but a ton?
That's fair. The gulf between where they were taken in the draft is not indicative of their abilities. The league inflated concerns about Gabe's size/speed and the Rangers got an absolute steal. But contrary to some of the discourse you see, Smith has not fallen off, he isn't dumb, and he's not the player he is because of Perrault. Both fanbases should be really excited.
 

2014nyr

Registered User
Jun 14, 2014
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Maybe straight into our top 6 if there's any kind of hole. His hockey brain and stick skills have got to be pretty much on the same level as Fox and Panarin. He skates closer to Fox but even so Adam might not be super speedy but he shows defenders up constantly with what he has. Perreault has just been a point producing machine for BC as a freshman. I really think his line mates Smith and Leonard have had great seasons too but Gabriel strikes me as the stick that stirs the drink for that line.

his brain is elite, i think his skating is substantially better than the narrative around him suggests. is he mcdavid? certainly not. i think it compares reasonably to guys like panarin, patrick kane, kucherov, giroux...he's shown time and again this season he has more than enough pace to transition the puck up ice, pull away in open ice, and put guys on their heels attacking 1 on 1, so pace isn't any major concern even if it's not in the elite realm. what doesn't get noticed as much is the balance and body control he has from both a stationary position or in full flight and whether he's possessing the puck or while receiving the puck...that's the skillset on your feet that means far more than how fast you can skate goal line to goal line. none of the guys mentioned are true burners, they're simply shifty and have incredible balance/body control that complements their hockey iq. gabe won't have any issues at the nhl with his skating, and i imagine with another year of physical development that will be more broadly recognized.
 
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The Crypto Guy

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huerter

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You have two years to learn how to fool people that you’ve loved the new meta this whole time.
 

I Eat Crow

Fear The Mullet
Jul 9, 2007
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This kid is a freaking stud…. It’s a sheer miracle that he dropped to us that late in the draft,
Miracle 2 happened when the organization whose known for out smarting themselves at the draft actually took him with the pick
We have Bill Guerin to thank for this. I audibly exhaled when Minnesota took Stramel. Even Bobby Mac mentioned right before the Rangers' pick that they liked Stramel a lot.

That had the potential to be as bad as Jessiman instead of Parise. Hopefully we're on the right end of this one ending up with a Parise.
 

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