Gabe Perreault already has five games of NHL experience under his belt, but when he next steps onto the ice at Madison Square Garden, it will be the most important game of his career to date. It may seem hyperbolic, but by promoting him from the Hartford Wolf Pack when they did, the Rangers sent a message. It may not be the intended message, but the panic recall of Perreault sends a message that they recognized the need to shake things up, and they feel the young forward is the best way of doing so. The Blueshirts' brain trust didn't need to make this move, and they just as easily could have brought back Brett Berard to change the mix. But now that Perreault is back on Broadway, they need to ensure that his promotion actually means something.
The Rangers called up Perreault sooner than they would have liked, and they need to make most of it
Perreault sojourn in Hartford lasted nine games, and he scored five goals while adding five assists for 10 points. With Perreault back in the fold, the forward lines are going to change, and there's no quick and easy way of doing so. In order to get the most out of Perreault, they need to put him in a position where his skill set will be complemented. We've already seen the Rangers try, and fail, loading up a top line of Artemi Panarin, J.T. Miller, and Mika Zibanejad, and they need to learn from that when deciding where to deploy Perreault.
So far the line of Panarin, Zibanejad, and Will Cuylle has been the team's best forward line at 5v5. The trio has just under 60 minutes of ice time together, and is rocking a 76.62 GF%, a 59.34 CF%, and a 63.47 xGF% per Evolving-Hockey. This line works because each player has a set role. Panarin is a great overall playmaker who is perfect at finding his teammates. He's a threat to shoot, but he's been more of a distributor to start the season. Zibanejad has been much more aggressive to start the season, and he should have more than four goals. Cuylle is a hard worker that likes to get to the dirty areas, work the boards, and just puts his nose down and gets to work. This is a line that should be reunited, and it would serve as the de facto No. 1 line.
Perreault seems like good fit for second line
As for the second line, this is where the Rangers can turn to J.T. Miller and Alexis Lafrenière. Miller and Lafrenière have worked well to start the season, and they spent 52 minutes together on a line that was rounded out by Conor Sheary. That trio posted a 51.44 GF%, a 61.42 CF%, and a 69.83 xGF%. The overall problem is the line created a ton of looks, but just couldn't burry them.
Lafrenière had a rough start to the season, but has looked better as of late. Miller isn't playing up to his potential, and Sheary just has on business being in the top six. Perreault is a natural fit here, and he can play well with someone like Lafrenière who is known for his abilities as a playmaker. The Rangers want Perreault to be a player who shoots the puck and scores goals, and I think that on this line he'd do that. If you put Perreault on a line with Zibanejad or Panarin, I truly believe he would defer to them and try and get them the puck to shoot.
Looking to the NBA to understand how Perreault can be effective
While Lafrenière certainly has shown a willingness to shoot the puck this season, I think he is someone who would like playing with Perreault because in due time he'd open up looks for himself. Perreault is a very good passer too, and having two wings who are willing to shoot and able to get others the puck will open things up. The best way to explain this is to look to the NBA. The NBA is a league that has gone through tremendous changes in recent years, and you've seen the game become dominated by the three point shot.
There are still players in the league who can't shoot from deep, but more and more teams are trying to have as many deep threats on the court at one time as possible. That is because if you have someone incapable of shooting, the defense can ignore that player and clog the paint down low and render them useless. That's something defense did against the New York Knicks with Josh Hart, and then Hart started taking and making threes which forced an adjustment from opposing defenses. That's something we've seen a bit with forwards on the Rangers, but so far no adjustments have been made. This applies to the power play as well, but we will talk about that is just a bit.
Perreault just needs to play his game and be an upgrade for a duo that's already having success
The Rangers' offense at home has been very stagnant and predictable, because the team has been pretty deliberate in what it is trying to do, which in turns make it easier for the opposition to game plan and shut things down. Loading up the top line did a number on the team's overall depth, and it resulted in seeing lines like Sam Carrick, Adam Edstrom, and Matt Rempe dominate possession but not score.
There's been a few occasions where the Rangers do get the looks they want, but the puck ends up on the stick of someone not known for scoring. If you are a defending player, you want to create scenarios where you get the puck off the stick of a threatening player. One way of doing that is leaving someone open and playing the odds game which suggests that even that open player is less likely to beat you than the player with the puck already on their stick. We see this strategy played out all the time on 2-on-1 breaks and how a defender will decide whether to play the pass or just let the goalie take the shot clean.
Having Perreault in the mix means that the team will have a better option who is a threat to score, and the defense can't overload and take the chance of leaving someone all alone. With Sheary in the top six you had a player that not a real offensive threat to score, and more often than not he was left alone and additional attention was paid to his linemates.
A line of Lafrenière, Miller, and Perreault should be dynamic. Miller, someone who has been an accomplished scorer, will be asked to be a bit of a distributor and net front presence who can get the team better looks. He will have his chance to score too, and that's because Lafrenière and Perreault are skilled passers who can get him the puck. But because both of those wingers are also talented shooters, it won't be as easy to defend them, because they can cycle the puck around until they get the look they want. Each player is well positioned to play off each other, and Perreault would be a clear upgrade over Sheary joining a duo that already works well together.
Filling out remainder of bottom six
With the top six ironed out, that creates a interim scenario in which the third line is comprised of Conor Sheary, Noah Laba, and Taylor Raddysh. I say temporary, because Vincent Trocheck will be back soon, and it is possible that when he returns he could be a good fit at 3C and Laba could move to the wing if they want to keep Zibanejad at center. In any case, Trocheck's eventual return will make the team better. The addition of Perreault pushing a current option down the lineup is another thing that strengthen's the team. The fourth line would then be some combination of Juuso Parssinen, Sam Carrick, Adam Edstrom, and Jonny Brodzinski, and any of those three would do.
Special teams assignments for Perreault
The last thing to consider for Perreault is where he fits in on the power play, and you can make the case that he should get a shot on the first power play unit. He was a fixture of PP1 for Boston College, and trying him on the first unit in place of Cuylle could be interesting. Having Miller serve as a net front screener and tipper, aka the Chris Kreider role, seems like a good plan. Having Perreault's passing and shooting ability as part of that unit could make things flow better, because the setup wouldn't be as stagnant.
As things stand right now, the units try and funnel shots to Panarin or Zibanejad, but Perreault would be another option that PK units would have to pay attention to. He's great working along the wall and slipping out of trouble, and just having that element would be welcomed on a man advantage unit that is struggling. I anticipate him getting looks on the second unit, but that would be a waste considering how little minutes it gets during the course of a game. They called up Perreault for a reason, and they need to take full advantage of his abilities and see what he's capable of.