Gabe Perreault’s strong AHL debut month is a promising first step toward the Rangers

Gabe Perreault projects to be an important part of the future of the New York Rangers, and it was disappointing for some that his 2025-26 season began in the American Hockey League. Perreault had a cup of coffee with the Blueshirts to end the 2024-25 season, and after a strong training camp there was some thought that he'd done enough to earn another trial period. The Rangers' team brass made the difficult, but very prudent, decision to keep Perreault away, and so far so good for the team's top prospect.

Perreault had an impressive first month of the season with Hartford

The month of November is here, and now's a great time to take a temperature check on Perreault down in Hartford. Thus far he's appeared in nine games with the Wolf Pack, still a very small sample, but there's a lot to like about his performance. Perreault has five goals and assists for 10 points, and is a plus seven on the season to date. He's the team leader in goals, assists, and points, and is third overall in scoring among AHL rookies. He's scored on five of the 16 shots he's put on net, and it will be interesting to see how well he continues to shoot in Hartford.

Perreault started his first few games off slow with a goal and an assist, and then had three straight games in which he was kept off the scoresheet. Over the last four games he's come alive for Hartford, and has scored a goal in each of the games he's played. He's also had at least two points in three of the last four, and that's a positive development.

Hartford's upcoming schedule is great next test for Perreault

The Wolf Pack currently sit sixth in the Atlantic Division with a record of 3-4-2 and eight points. They played one game this past weekend, a 4-3 OT loss vs. the Lehigh Valley Phantoms, and will see considerable action in the coming weeks. Hartford will play on November 7, 8, 12, 14, 15, 18, 21, 22, 26, 28, and 29, and that is 11 games in the span of 22 days.

This stretch of games will give Perreault a great test of seeing how well he can produce under the pressure of a schedule, and will give the Rangers a better sense of how close he is to being ready for a recall. The ideal scenario would see Perreault remain in Hartford until after the Olympic break ends in February, because ultimately the team would like for his promotion to the Rangers to be his final one.

Patience will remain key during this process

Time and time again there have been cases in which the Rangers have promoted a prospect, seen them struggle, had them healthy scratched to learn at the NHL level, and then later assigned back to Hartford before the process started all over again. Brennan Othmann is a recent example of that. In Perreault's case, he is showing some confidence and productive player to start his season, and the goal is to see how high he can soar in the AHL.

There will be opportunities for him at the NHL level whenever he is ready, but there's no need to rush anything. The Rangers also will take into consideration the competition he's playing against, because while being above a point per game is great, they want to see him dominate a little more given some of the weaker competition, especially goalies, that he's facing on a nightly basis. It will be abundantly clear when Perreault is ready, and the Rangers will be ready for him when that time comes.