Now that the first half of the college hockey season has concluded, let's talk about the New York Rangers' first-round pick from the 2023 NHL Draft

On Saturday afternoon, I had the chance to do the color commentary on the No. 2 Boston College Eagles match-up against the No. 9 Providence Friars at the Conte Forum. This was my first time watching New York Rangers' first-round pick, Gabe Perreault, live in action. 

Perreault has been considered by many as the "steal of the draft" thanks to his incredible play in the first half of the college hockey season. Through 17 games, Perreault is currently leading Boston College with five goals and 25 points, which has him tied for third in the nation. 

I've always been curious on how communication works between NHL head coaches and the organization's top prospects. Rangers head coach, Peter Laviolette, has a connection to Boston College. He and Eagles head coach, Greg Brown, were teammates in the 1988 Olympics for Team USA. I asked Laviolette if he's spoken with Brown or Perreault about the success that the program is having thus far. 

Laviolette had a laugh, then jokingly, but also seriously said “I talked to my daughter, she goes to Boston College. She tells me Gabe’s doing just fine. She goes to all the games, she texted me and said he had a beauty the other night. I’ve got my own personal scout at the game, she’s doing a great job with it.” 

Laviolette continued in saying "I see the stats and his [Perreault] contributions at Boston College so far and the team and how they're doing. That's nice to see that we've got a player that's off-and-running."

For Rangers fans reading this, another fun fact about that '88 Olympic team is that Laviolette was also teammates with Rangers legends, Brian Leetch and Mike Richter. 

Considering the impact those two had on the Rangers organization, I was wondering if they had given Laviolette any advice. He added "I know New York, I'm from the East Coast, I'm from the Northeast. I had my 12 whopping games here at that time. I am friends with those players, I know they're in the area. I wish there was more time where I could actually catch up with them a little bit and say hi. See them once a year, once every couple of years, good players and good guys."

Now back to Perreault.

He put on quite the performance on Saturday, as he helped the Eagles soar to a 5-4 win over Providence by tallying a goal and assist in the victory. I was very impressed with his overall game. He drove the Eagles' offense and wasn't afraid to mix it up in what was a physical, top-10 match-up. 

Perreault played with a ton of swagger. 

I spoke with a good friend of mine, Colby Cohen, a national champion with the 2009 Boston University Terriers and a current college hockey analyst. 

"Although Perreault's impressive statistics are well-known, what truly stands out to me after watching his first semester at BC is his remarkable offensive hockey IQ," said Cohen. "His adept understanding of the opposing team's defensive spacing, coupled with his skill in identifying high-threat areas, has showcased his ability to be one or two steps ahead of the rest. 

"With a strategic and patient approach, the Rangers could see Perreault making his mark on their NHL roster within a few seasons."

One of the concerns — and quite frankly a reason why he dropped to 23rd overall in this past year's draft — was his skating ability. I spoke with the Eagles coach Brown earlier this week and asked him about Perreault's skating. 

"His anticipation and thinking are at such a high level, you don't even notice," said Brown. "He works very hard, his skating will pick up. He's usually taking two steps in the right direction before anyone might know. It's certainly not a problem for him." 

Perreault has been playing on one of the most exciting lines in all of college hockey. He's been playing on the left side of the San Jose Sharks' fourth-overall pick, Will Smith, and the Washington Capitals' eighth-overall pick, Ryan Leonard. These three freshman have unbelievable chemistry, which is largely due to their familiarity with one another as they all played with the US National Development Program prior to entering Boston College. 

I spoke with Chris Peters, who is a draft and prospect analyst for FloHockey, about Perreault and whether the success that he is having at the college level is a surprise. 

"I don’t think his success is a surprise at all," said Peters. "He had the most productive season in NTDP history in his draft year and some of those points came in games against NCAA competition. He also has the built-in chemistry with his linemates where there’s been a very easy transition. The three of them seemingly can’t be stopped." 

Hockey fans often love to compare prospects to current NHL players. I've heard some people compare Perreault to Derek Stepan, who was a popular New York Ranger during the 2010 era. Peters thinks that Perreault is a little more similar to Jason Robertson of the Dallas Stars. 

"The hockey sense is really off the charts and his ability to read and react mitigates some skating concern, but that will persist," said Peters. "He doesn’t have a very 'pacey' game, but he processes it so fast. I don’t know if there’s a player in the NHL with a bigger gap between hockey sense and skating than Jason Robertson. But he also has size, so it’s not a great comp stylistically, but Gabe’s hockey intelligence is on that level. I also think he’s a better skater."

The Rangers understand that Perreault's development should not be rushed, especially since he is playing for such an established program like Boston College. We've seen a ton of today's NHL stars spend two-to-three years playing NCAA hockey, like Charlie McAvoy, Cale Makar, Matty Beniers, Tage Thompson, Quinn Hughes and Rangers defenseman Adam Fox. 

Perreault will certainly not be a "one-and-done" type of player. That said, Peters believes "Gabe’s challenge is going to be getting stronger, winning more puck battles and engaging more off the puck. He is a responsible player, but he lacks the size or quickness right now to be more than a complementary player, which I think was the concern and why he slipped on draft day. But I do think he will make it to the league, because no matter the pace of the game or the intensity, he always produces." 

As @DaveyUpper pointed out, Perreault has essentially led every team he's every played on in scoring, so there's no reason to believe that he one day can't do that for the Rangers. 

It might be Christmas break for most college students, but Perreault will now venture off to represent the United States at the World Juniors in Gothenburg, Sweden. 

It's going to be very exciting to watch his progression the rest of the season.