Rangers sign 2023 first-round pick, top prospect Gabe Perreault to entry-level contract
Less than 24 hours after Gabe Perreault’s sophomore season at Boston College ended, he turned pro by signing a three-year entry-level contract with the New York Rangers on Monday.
It’s expected that the 19-year-old forward, who’s widely regarded as the Rangers top prospect, will practice with the club Tuesday and could make his NHL debut at Madison Square Garden against the Minnesota Wild on Wednesday.
Perreault was New York’s first-round pick (No. 23 overall) in the 2023 draft. Highly-skilled and blessed with impressive on-ice awareness, vision and hockey IQ, Perreault ranked second among all NCAA skaters with 73 assists and third with 108 points the past two seasons at Boston College.
Though you never know for sure, it was assumed that Perreault would turn pro after his sophomore year. After BC lost the national championship game to Denver last season, Perreault announced in July he’d return to school and try to win the NCAA title this season.
Despite being the No. 1 seed in the NCAA tournament, Boston College lost to Denver 3-1 in the Elite Eight on Sunday, failing to reach the Frozen Four a second straight year. Perreault was scoreless in his final game with the Eagles; he scored a goal in the opener of NCAA regionals on Friday, a 3-1 win over Bentley. It was his 16th goal of the season
Perreault finished this season second in scoring for BC with 48 points and led the team with 32 assists and five power-play goals. Only Ryan Leonard, who also signed his entry-level contract with the Washington Capitals on Monday, had more points (49) than Perreault at BC this season.
The son of longtime NHL center Yanic Perreault burst on to the scene as a Freshman with BC, when he was second in the nation with 41 assists and fourth with 60 points in 36 games.
Along with his productive play for a winning program at Boston College, Perreault helped the United States win consecutive World Junior Championships in 2024 and 2025. It’s the first time that the U.S. won the WJC in back-to-back years.
Perreault recorded identical numbers in each tournament, 10 points (three goals, seven assists) in seven games.
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Gabe Perreault is intriguing option for Rangers down stretch this season
How Rangers coach Peter Laviolette chooses to use Perreault down the stretch will be interesting to watch. The Rangers (35-32-7) are percentage points behind the Montreal Canadiens for the second wild card in the Eastern Conference. So, each of their remaining eight games is crucial.
It’s not exactly a time to experiment with a young player getting his feet wet in the NHL. Then again, Perreault is considered to be a special talent and might be able to spark a Rangers team that is 4-7-2 in its past 13 games and failed to grab ahold of the final playoff spot and make it its own.
If he’s going to be in the lineup, it’d make sense for Perreault to play a top-six role since his primary asset is his offensive talent. Playing on a line with rugged and skilled center J.T. Miller appears to be the logical move, perhaps with either Will Cuylle or Alexis Lafreniere on the other wing. That could free up space for Perreault, who’s slightly built (5-foot-11, 178 pounds) and not a physical force at this stage of his development.
His situation brings back memories of another Boston College alum who joined the Rangers during their 2012 run in the Stanley Cup Playoffs. Chris Kreider, a 2009 first-round pick, won the national championship at BC then turned pro and helped the Rangers reach the Eastern Conference Final, where they lost in six games to the New Jersey Devils.
Kreider had five goals and seven points in 18 postseason games that spring. At age 21, he didn’t shy away from the big moment, scoring goals in each of the first three games of the conference final. It should also be noted that he struggled to win a role the following lockout-shortened season.
You can expect Kreider, now 33 and the longest-tenured Rangers player, to be there for Perreault each step of the way this spring.
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