Gabe Perreault still has some aspects of his game he needs to refine before being fully ready to take on the trials and tribulations of the NHL.
There was a lot of hope and excitement when the New York Rangers called up Perreault.
However, after playing just three games for the Blueshirts, it was clear that the pace of the NHL game was too advanced for the 20-year-old forward, and he wasn’t as prepared to take on a full-time role with the Rangers as we may have originally anticipated.
Mike Sullivan and the coaching staff envisioned Perreault playing a top-six role, providing the Rangers with a much-needed offensive spark.
While he played on a line with Mika Zibanejad and J.T. Miller at times, Sullivan constantly moved him down to the team’s third line down the stretch during his three-game stint.
“We've seen some really good things he's done. Obviously he's got real good offensive instincts, sees the play really well,” Sullivan said of Perreault. “He thinks the game on a high level. I think where his opportunity for growth and improvement is really just strength on the puck and a little bit of quickness. And I think they go hand in hand.
“As a young player, it's just physical maturity. The speed of the game and the size and the strength of the players at this level is second to none. For most young players, that's one of the challenges in making the jump to being an impact player at this level.”
How can Wolf Pack head coach Grant Potulny get the most out of Perreault and better prepare him for the NHL?
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Potulny has been happy with Perreault’s level of play in the AHL and feels that he’ll continue to grow through game repetition at the professional hockey level.
“Gabe has been really good here,” Potulny said. “His first two-three-four games, he was kind of getting settled in the league, and then he over the next three or four games, I think he had like eight points... I think he gets his stick on a lot of pucks that you wouldn't think he'd be able to. I think just playing against men over and over and over, it's gonna improve.”
In 10 games with the Wolf Pack this season, Perreault has recorded five goals, five assists, and 10 points.
Perreault played on the Wolf Pack’s first line alongside Jaroslav Chmelař and Justin Dowling upon officially returning to the Wolf Pack lineup on Tuesday, while also serving a role on the first power-play unit.