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

PuckLuck3043

Stairway To Heaven
Nov 15, 2017
10,739
16,536
Hudson Valley
This guys skating is NOT bad at all. In fact it’s GOOD. Its just not at the same elevated level as his other physical and mental skills, so you can call it his least strong asset, but his other assets are off the charts so…
The “can’t skate” narrative is just plain WRONG here. It’s just a bad take. He’s better than Fox and WAY better than Stepan. And there’s no reason it can’t get even better at BC. This kid looks two years younger than Smith and Leonard he’s going to physically mature and will have plenty of opportunity to improve.
The more I look into this pick, the more thrilled I am.
Exactly.
 

Glen Sathers Cigar

Sather 4 Ever
Feb 4, 2013
16,736
20,922
New York
If this was a Gorton/Clark/Bobrov draft you know we wouldn't have picked this kid, we would've taken someone projected to go in the 40s or 50s who they were convinced they were smarter about than the other organizations were and since they didn't have another pick until the 3rd they wouldn't want to lose him and would overdraft that player instead of trading down or instead of picking the BPA regardless of position like Drury's staff did here.
 

Synergy27

F-A-C-G-C-E
Apr 27, 2004
13,836
12,923
Washington, D.C.
again, downplaying skating issues. people said the same thing about them. “it’s not a big deal.” “skating can be improved”. “it’s not as bad as people make it out to be”. “he just needs to work on it a little bit. it’ll be fine”. “skating can be improved”. all of that ended up being bullshit.
I’m not downplaying issues. I am questioning the vision of people claiming the issues exist. This kid is a good skater.
 

Kakko

Formerly Chytil
Mar 23, 2011
23,747
3,467
Long Island
Having never watched any of them play, what's the separating factor that he went so much later than his linemates?
 

The Crypto Guy

Registered User
Jun 26, 2017
28,307
36,915
Holy shit, just watched the draft on DVR, i was f***ing SCREAMING for them to draft him when we were up and we didn’t mess it up!!!

This is an amazing value pick at 23, not sure how he was still there but i’m pumped! Will be fun to watch him cook in the NCAA for the next 2-3 years. This kid’s skill level is super high.

A+ pick in the first round.
 

duhmetreE

Blessed Bigly
Sponsor
Jan 18, 2012
34,485
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Having never watched any of them play, what's the separating factor that he went so much later than his linemates?
he massively improved year over year. Size and speed specifically.

Leonard and especially Smith were much better 2 seasons ago. From the outside it could possibly look like that Smith and Leonard elevated him instead of Perrault improving and elevating to their level?
 
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SML2

Registered User
Jan 1, 2018
5,099
7,454
Hockey Prospect had him at #9.
Exerts from their Black Book:

- Simply put, Gabriel is one of the smartest players in this draft class. A quick thinker, if he gets the puck on his stick, it’s never there for too long.
- a highly technical high-end passer with an exceptional ability to make passes that are extremely difficult. He sees things on the ice that very few players see, and passing lanes that simply don’t exist for most other players in this draft class.
- playmaking skills on the power play are lethal.
- what makes him one of the best eligible prospects in this draft is the fact that he’s a natural dual-threat.
-one of the best releases in the whole draft,
- 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.
- he does compete well enough out there, unafraid of going to the rough areas of the ice to get his goals.
- We see Perreault as a brilliant, creative top-6 option for a team, someone who will thrive on the power play with added time and space.
It's going to be fun to have Fox and a forward version of Fox at the same time.
 

I Eat Crow

Fear The Mullet
Jul 9, 2007
19,727
12,940
Everything I'm reading and watching suggests that he drives play on that dream team line and that he is not even close to riding coat tails of Smith and Leonard, and that I'd go as far to say that they owe some of their success to Perreault.

The pre draft comparison I put on Perreault is Jake Guentzel. Never in my wildest dreams did I think he'd fall to 23. I thought for sure he wouldn't last Pittsburgh. I'm absolutely over the moon!
 

egelband

Registered User
Sep 6, 2008
16,074
14,840
Friendships over with Alexis Lafreniere and Kappo Kakko.

Now Gabriel Perreault and Brennan Othman are my best friends.
IMG_0372.png
 

UnSandvich

Registered User
Sep 7, 2017
5,589
8,278
Holy shit, just watched the draft on DVR, i was f***ing SCREAMING for them to draft him when we were up and we didn’t mess it up!!!

This is an amazing value pick at 23, not sure how he was still there but i’m pumped! Will be fun to watch him cook in the NCAA for the next 2-3 years. This kid’s skill level is super high.

A+ pick in the first round.

As soon as the previous pick went through, and he was still available, I started chanting "C'mon Perreault". And then the Rangers actually did it
 

Levitate

Registered User
Jul 29, 2004
31,443
8,791
iirc we downplayed laf’s and kakko’s skating issues after we drafted them and they continue to be their biggest detriments. Good news is this guy isn’t going to straight to us, so hopefully college can help him improve on those things.
maybe I'm just the eternal optimist to some extent but I still don't think Laf and Kakko's skating are the things that are really holding them back. I think if they had elite skating then it would have boosted them up to an elite level early on, sure, but where they're at now they aren't "slow" players or "bad skating" players. They ultimately to me look like players who have lacked direction. They don't play fast not because they're slow bad skaters, but because their team for the most part played slow deliberate hockey rather than something that'd give them structure to use their greatest skills.

I think skating is a bit overrated now...it can be a great asset and I'll take a fast player over a just good skater all other skills the same, but skating isn't the only reason the Devils are fast. Their gameplan is fast and dedicated to moving the puck up the ice as quickly as possible and not just by skating. The Rangers gameplan was never about moving it up the ice fast

So, coaching will be huge for either unlocking these guys potential (including Othman and Perreault) or proving they just don't have what it takes (Kakko and Laf)
 

Kupo

MAFIA, MOUNT UP!
Sponsor
Oct 31, 2017
11,720
24,956
Stamford CT
Hockey Prospect had him at #9.
Exerts from their Black Book:

- Simply put, Gabriel is one of the smartest players in this draft class. A quick thinker, if he gets the puck on his stick, it’s never there for too long.
- a highly technical high-end passer with an exceptional ability to make passes that are extremely difficult. He sees things on the ice that very few players see, and passing lanes that simply don’t exist for most other players in this draft class.
- playmaking skills on the power play are lethal.
- what makes him one of the best eligible prospects in this draft is the fact that he’s a natural dual-threat.
-one of the best releases in the whole draft,
- 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.
- he does compete well enough out there, unafraid of going to the rough areas of the ice to get his goals.
- We see Perreault as a brilliant, creative top-6 option for a team, someone who will thrive on the power play with added time and space.
Thanks for sharing. 👍🏼
 

will1066

Registered User
Oct 12, 2008
48,266
67,442
Very elusive. Very shifty. Look at the inside cut he makes on the RD. It came out of nowhere. That can counteract a dip in speed
 

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