2025 Rangers Report Card: Gabe Perreault

This post is part of an ongoing series of Rangers Report Cards, grading the performance of each member of the 2024-25 New York Rangers. To view more report cards in this series, go here.

Expectations

The main goal for Gabe Perreault this year was for him to focus on his development at Boston College. The Rangers wanted him to continue showcasing that he genuinely was a bonafide top prospect they stole late in the first round. After coming up one game short of an NCAA Championship the year prior and with both Cutter Gauthier and Will Smith leaving the program for the NHL, it was Perreault's turn to shoulder more responsibility and prove once and for all he isn't dependent on his linemates to play hockey at an elite level.

Performance

Perreault started off the year scoring at a very comparable rate to his 60 point freshman campaign. The key difference was it was without Will Smith, who many considered to be the true driver of the offensive production Perreault has often been a part of at BC. As the season continued, his scoring pace slightly waned. By the World Junior Championships break he had 23 points in 16 games—still an outstanding 1.44 PPG, but lower than his previous season.

Perreault starred for Team USA in the World Junior Championships. Posting several multipoint games and helping lead his team to their first back-to-back gold medals in tournament history. As far as his production, he had the same exact stat line both years, scoring 3 goals and 7 assists in 7 games. Importantly, he was able to accomplish this with and without Will Smith and Cutter Gauthier boosting his play. There's a relatively sensible piece of advice out there that says don't judge a player solely on their production in a small set of data such as an individual tournament. But Perreault really was dominant against both competitive and non-competitive teams both years. This past tournament there were several games where he could have scored an additional goal but bad puck luck worked against him, already fitting in with the Rangers.

After the WJC, Perreault's excellent offensive output continued but slightly decreased yet again. In 21 games he scored 25 points, good for 1.19 PPG down the stretch. While still a bit lower than his freshman year, his production was still considered elite as he and Ryan Leonard went back and forth in leading the team in points throughout the year.

Another feather in Perreault's cap is he consistently shows up in big games. Boston College made it to the finals of the Beanpot Tournament after an 8-2 routing of Northeastern, last year's reigning champion. Perreault notched two assists in that game. In the finals they matched up against their ultimate rival, Boston University. While Boston College got their fair share of chances, they were only able to score once and Perreault was that lone sole goal scorer while his team came up short in a 4-1 effort against the Terriers.

At the end of the collegiate regular season, the Eagles were the number one ranked squad in the nation for the second year in a row, Perreault and Boston College had their sights set on a championship. They got goalied and bowed out in the Hockey East Quarterfinals, falling to Northeastern. But Perreault once again was heavily involved in the only BC goal after walking into the offensive zone and splitting the defenders to give James Hagens a prime opportunity. The only championship left for the team to win was the ultimate prize, the NCAA Championship. They qualified for the tournament and this year secured an early matchup against Denver University, a rematch of their loss in last year's Championship game.

Hoping for a different outcome this time around Perreault and the Eagles came out swinging. However, Zeev Buium and Denver put their defensive prowess and fluid game on display as they shut down BC's high powered top line, and the Eagles were ousted early on in the tournament. With his sophomore season at Boston College now wrapped up, his final stat line was 16 goals and 32 assists in 37 games ranking eleventh in points among all NCAA skaters. The Eagles failed to capture a championship, but they held the number one ranking throughout the entirety of the season.

While many thought Perreault would return to Boston College for a third and potentially final year, rumblings were beginning to grow that both he and Ryan Leonard would be making the jump to the NHL. Those rumblings then became reality when he signed a three year entry level contract with the Blueshirts and joined the team. Rookies sacrificing the first year of their ELC is always a risky maneuver, but the Rangers forged right ahead.

In the nine games the Rangers played since Perreault signed with the team, he only dressed in five of them. This was due to some genuinely questionable decision making from their half-out-the-door head coach Peter Laviolette. It would have been fantastic to have Perreault get more exposure at the NHL level, especially after making the choice to burn that first year of his contract but, alas.

In his five games Perreault didn't get on the scoreboard but he registered five shots on net and averaged over 14 minutes of ice time. He certainly looked like a rookie getting his first cup of coffee in the NHL, but there were some small moments where he made a subtle cerebral play that hints at what's really to come for the Rangers top prospect.

Author Grade: B+

Banter Consensus: Incomplete

It's hard to give Perreault a grade for his time in the NHL when he only played in five games, so most of us at Blueshirt Banter gave him an incomplete. However, I'm breaking the rules and gave him a B+. This is solely based on his development and production this past season. While he scored prolifically and without the safety blanket of Smith and Gauthier, his production still dipped and Boston College didn't win a single championship throughout the season. That being said, without Perreault, it's possible the Americans would have come up a bit short at the World Juniors and he fast tracked his development by jumping to the NHL sooner than anyone thought he would. It really feels like the sky is the limit for the young winger, and we're all looking forward to seeing what he achieves in his career.