Rangers recall Gabe Perreault from Hartford, seeking to boost offense
The New York Rangers hope that calling up their best prospect, forward Gabe Perreault, from Hartford of the American Hockey League on Sunday will give a boost to their struggling offense and help them end a historically bad start at Madison Square Garden.
Perreault figures to be in the lineup Monday night when the Rangers host the Nashville Predators, seeking answers to a home start that’s been fueled by an inability to put the puck in the net. A 5-0 loss to the New York Islanders on Saturday dropped the Rangers to 0-6-1 on home ice. They were shut out in five of the seven home losses, matching a dubious record held by the 1928-29 Pittsburgh Pirates.
The Rangers’ first-round pick (No. 23 overall) in the 2023 NHL Draft signed an entry-level contract in late March after his second season at Boston College ended with a loss in the NCAA Tournament on March 30. He was scoreless in five NHL games. The son of former NHL center Yanic Perreault had a good training camp, but management decided he’d be better off playing top-six minutes at Hartford rather than seeing limited time (and likely in the bottom six) with the big club.
However, the 20-year-old forward leads Hartford with 10 points (five goals, five assists) in nine games, and now gets another NHL chance with a team that’s averaging the fewest goals in the League (2.19 goals per game) in its 7-7-2 start.
Perreault is a player known for his offensive abilities, so this move was clearly made hoping to ignite New York’s offense. He recorded 108 points in 73 games at Boston College. At 5-foot-11 and 180 pounds, he doesn’t bring much to a lineup in terms of size, but that hasn’t stopped him from producing points at every level he’s played at.
Perreault missed the two most recent Wolf Pack games with an upper-body injury and was listed as day to day. That came after he was named the AHL Player of the Week for the prior week.
Rangers coach Mike Sullivan said during camp that he liked what he saw from Perreault, calling him “an NHL player in the making.”
To make room, the Rangers returned forward Jaroslav Chmelar to Hartford. Chmelar was scoreless in two games this past weekend, averaging 7:14 of ice time. He made his biggest impression in the third period of his NHL debut against the Detroit Red Wings on Friday night, getting into a spirited scrap with veteran defenseman Travis Hamonic during New York’s 4-1 win.
