Rangers Prospect Gabe Perreault Shines Capturing Gold for USA at World Junior Championships

As the great Bob Dylan once said, “The Time’s They Are A-Changin,” history was made at the 2025 World Junior Championships this past weekend. For the first time in the country’s history, the United States won back-to-back gold medals. Ryan Leonard, a Washington Capitals top prospect and linemate to Gabe Perreault, described the event as a dynasty. This next generation of American-born players has some bonafide superstars in the making, and you can consider the international community officially on notice.

Team USA dominated most of their competition and only lost one game during the round robin, in overtime, to Finland, their eventual gold medal opponent. The Americans were powered forward by the high-octane offensive trio from Boston College, featuring the Rangers' best prospect, Gabe Perreault, and their dynamic back end, consisting of Zeev Buium and Cole Hutson. The latter was the first defenseman in the tournament's history to lead all skaters in points. Hutson was drafted 13 spots after the Rangers took EJ Emery in the 2024 draft, a decision that may look quite foolish if this tournament’s results taught us anything.

With all that being outlined, let’s get into the Rangers’ prospects' performance throughout the event. 

Gabe Perreault

7 GP| 3 Goals| 7 Assists| SOG 24| Avg TOI 19:03| +10

Perreault started the tournament on a roll, scoring two goals and one assist against a weaker German team. It quickly became apparent that Perreault would help push the pace of the high-powered American offense, as he was often the one stickhandling around the offensive zone, setting up his teammates. Perreault excels with the puck on his stick, and his vision and subtle deft passes were consistently highlights for the Americans.

The next game saw more of the same. Perreault logged another assist as the Americans defeated the Latvians, who were confident after knocking off the Canadians the previous night. As the Americans built their lead against Latvia, they rested their unofficial first line, consisting of the BC trio.

Their third game in the round-robin against Finland was the first real test for Team USA. The Perreault, Leonard, Hagens line was held scoreless in what ended up being Team USA’s only defeat, but it wasn’t for lack of trying. Perreault had numerous high-quality chances, hitting the post on two separate breakaways, but in the end, Team USA fell to Finland.

Perreault and the Americans recovered nicely in their next game against Canada, handily winning 4-1, but he was held off the scoresheet for the second time. Having punched their ticket into the elimination rounds, their first opponent was a much weaker Team Switzerland. The Americans feasted on the Swiss, and Perreault netted three assists himself.

After dispatching Switzerland easily, the Americans were up against a slick and skilled Team Czechia in the semifinals. This time, Perreault struck first, queuing up Team USA’s brilliantly selected Free Bird goal song. Perreault added an assist to his point total, getting the puck to Ryan Leonard to score the insurance goal and deflate Team Czechia at the end of the third period. On to the gold medal game for a rematch against Finland.

Finland was bringing its best, and for Team USA to have a chance, its top line was going to need to find a way to deliver. Down 1-0 early in the game, Perreault capitalized on a turnover and made a pass to turn the situation into a high-danger chance and an eventual tying goal for USA.

The gold medal game was intense. The USA had to fight their way back after finding more energy in the second period. The game needed overtime, and Perreault, Leonard, and Hutson were leaned on heavily as one of the primary trios to get ice time before the Americans won it later in the period.

Perreault had an outstanding tournament and was in a five-way tie for the second-most points in the competition with ten, but that total could have easily been higher if the skilled youngster had a bit more puck luck. He showed off his elite skill set and proved he was one of the best in his generation. It’s never a good thing to focus on a small sample size, and that’s something the WJC often leads folks to do, but objectively speaking, Perreault was dominant, maintained puck possession for much of his time on ice and was a big reason why the Americans looked as dangerous as they did. He has a bright future, and the Rangers are lucky he fell into their laps.

Drew Fortescue

7 GP| 0 Goals| 0 Assists| SOG 5| Avg TOI 20:43| + 6

Many folks always look for point production as a sign of an impactful tournament, but make no mistake: Fortescue was integral to Team USA’s success. Just as Perreault generated offensive chances, Fortescue shut them down. He played on a pair with one of Team USA’s top offensive defenders, Zeev Buium, and he brought balance and defensive awareness to that pairing.

He consistently used his positioning and stick to disrupt forecheckers and make an excellent outlet pass to either his defensive partner joining the rush or any of the forwards. He was trusted in important situations and was put out late to help protect leads or, in some instances, chase after the next goal to win the game. Fortescue was also not afraid to get in the middle of scrums, often being the first to defend his teammates.

In the gold medal game, he got shifts during the 3 on 3 portion of overtime and was seen pushing the pace and attacking the offensive zone. Fortescue really took a big step recently, and this tournament put that on full display. The young defender handled the increased role and minutes competently, and the Rangers have a future depth defenseman on their hands.

Rico Gredig

4 GP| 0 Goals| 1 Assists| SOG 9| Avg TOI 16:09| -4

Team Switzerland was expected to show up and do their best but would maybe get one win at best, and that is precisely what they did. Switzerland struggled against the higher-powered teams but put up a fight against Slovakia and beat Kazakhstan 3-1.

Gredig got middle of the lineup minutes and recorded one assist in the team’s one win. His assist was underwhelming as the puck bounced off him to a teammate who blasted it past the goaltender. However, there were certain moments throughout the tournament where the flash of what the Rangers brass saw in Gredig was displayed. This was usually seen in the rush where Gredig showed off his slick set of hands, making a few flashy moves, but sadly, nothing resulted from them as Team Switzerland struggled to capitalize.