This New York Rangers season might have been a big disappointment, and it is finally coming to an end, but there is some light at the end of the tunnel. One of the key pieces for the future of this organization was named in the top-10 of the top 100 prospects in the game.
There is an influx of fantastic pieces around the National Hockey League that are going to take over for the next era following the eventual retirement of Alex Ovechkin and Sidney Crosby. One of those pieces could already be wearing a Blueshirt uniform.
That player is Gabe Perreault, and deservingly so.
This kid has it all
Perreault has been stellar this season, earning some top minutes in the wanning moments of the season. Sure, he couldn't make a big enough difference to make the Rangers a playoff team, but that's not his job. His task was to play to the best of his abilities, and based on what we've seen, he might be able to set them up for a dynasty.
The Athletic has ranked their top-100 prospects in the game right now, and Perreault comes up at No. 10. He sits between Berkley Catton of Seattle and Michael Hage of Montreal. Pretty good company when thinking about how much those two prospects mean to their organizations.
There's a lot of nice things said about Perreault, and this quote from Scott Wheeler is everything fans could ever want to hear.
"I view him as one of the most talented and offensively intelligent prospects in the game, and when the points pile up as they have, and they happen while making the kinds of plays that he does, I think you downplay his player type at your own risk at that point."
There are two big points to think about with Perreault, and both should bode well for the Rangers.
One, Perreault still has time to evolve and grow. With time, experience will benefit him greatly, and what was already shown this season will exponentially increase. In 45 games, No. 94 has 11 goals and 15 assists for 26 points and a -1. Given how poorly the Rangers have played, Perreault only being a -1 is quite a stat of significance. Additionally, early on he's been able to notch two game-winning goals, proving a little bit of a clutch value in the 20-year-old.
In terms of how he's growing in the league, for context, he's averaging .58 points per game, and that puts him just behind former linemate Ryan Leonard of the Washington Capitals who has 45 points in 75 games (0.60).
The second point, which might be even more important, is that the Rangers front office needs to give him time. There is an extensive history of first-round draft picks that have failed miserably for this organization, due to mismanagement. Once they were shipped off to another team, they flourished, making the development experts look like fools. Despite playing very well this season, the Rangers can't look for Perreault to be an immediate savior. They need to stay the course, surround him with talent, and let him rise and fall at his own pace with grace.
For Perreault, this does feel different though. It feels as though for now, he has figured out the pace of the NHL-game. Of course, sophomore slumps are a real thing, so there is a chance for the 2026-27 season to be a bust. That said, considering we have seen in the last 45 games, you have to feel confident that he won't fall into that category. His entire body of work suggests that too, and like Wheeler said "I think you downplay his player type at your own risk at that point."
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