Gabe Perreault Ranks #13 in Scott Wheeler’s Top 100 Prospect List

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What Wheeler wrote about Perrault:

"I stuck my neck out on Perreault in his draft year and I remain bullish on him as one of the most talented and offensively intelligent prospects in the game. Eventually, when the points pile up like they have, and they happen while making the kinds of plays that he does, you can’t ignore them. You can say what you will about his skinny frame (though he has added substantial muscle, at least relatively speaking, in recent years). You can say what you will about perceived questions of skating (which I think lost the plot in his draft year). You can say what you will about his linemates at the NTDP and BC. But it’s Perreault who holds the program’s single-season points record and it was Perreault who, before missing a few games to injury, led the Eagles in scoring as a freshman for much of last season before finishing with a rare 60-point season anyway.

I see a clever-beyond-belief facilitator and playmaker who plays the game with a light touch and a heady spatial awareness of not only where his teammates are, but where he is in the flow of play (and relative to defenders). The son of longtime NHLer Yanic Perreault and brother of Habs prospect Jacob Perreault, Gabe doesn’t have his dad’s defensive acumen or his brother’s build (Gabe is now listed at 165 pounds, Jacob at 192), but he’s a highly intuitive player who sees the play develop offensively at a more advanced level than his two family members did/do — and comparable to any prospect in the sport.

He’s got extremely quick hands to complement that mind for the game offensively and allow him to execute the plays he sees. He problem-solves his way out of trouble as well as just about anyone on this list, too. He’s got dexterous tools catching, tipping and redirecting pucks. He arrives into space at exactly the right times to make himself available and finish plays. His ability to bait defenders and open them up so that he can slide passes through their feet is so impressive. He gets shots off extremely fast and without bobbles in catch-and-release sequences. He plans things out on the ice at speed and then finds ways to make his desired play.

He’s a slick one-on-one player but will also wait that extra split-second and then just sling a pass tape-to-tape across the grain. He has become a bit of a puck thief, consistently tracking back hard to empty the tank and make effort plays on lifts. There are times when he waits too long to make his plays, but you live with that given his unique ability to find guys in open space with real craft and puck skill in possession.

And he’s a better skater than he gets credit for, with above-average speed for my money and room to add power and pick up another step as he gets stronger. Because of his genetics, he should be able to add the necessary weight and strength eventually, too. With the proper patience, I expect he’ll become a skilled, top-six playmaking winger with clear PP1 upside."