Rangers top prospect Gabe Perreault ‘can see everything’ on ice, Cutter Gauthier gushes: report
Well, it’s safe to say that Cutter Gauthier believes the New York Rangers have a gem in forward prospect Gabe Perreault. The Anaheim Ducks forward gushed about his former Boston College teammate recently when speaking with The Athletic’s Peter Baugh.
“He’s sick,” Gauthier said about Perreault. “He’s got like 10 eyes on his head. He can see everything. … (He) can make plays out of his a– that I have never seen before. We played together on the power play and he made life so easy. He was feeding me pucks that not a lot of guys (were able) to.”
Perreault exploded on the scene as a freshman last season, finishing with 60 points in 36 games for BC. The Rangers’ first-round pick in the 2023 NHL Draft was second in the nation with 41 assists and tied for fourth in points.
Gauthier, a year older, was there for it all with Perreault. As a sophomore, Gauthier was second in the NCAA with 65 points in 41 games, including 38 goals, which led the nation.
The forwards helped Boston College reach the national championship game, where they lost to Denver. Gauthier, who forced a trade from the Philadelphia Flyers to the Ducks, turned pro at the end of last season. He’s searching for his first NHL goal, but has three assists in eight games this season, after a 2-1 loss to the Rangers on Saturday.
The son of longtime NHL center Yanic Perreault has seven points (two goals, five assists) in the first four games of his sophomore season at BC.
“He’s definitely NHL-ready mentally,” Gauthier offered.
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Rangers prospect Gabe Perreault ‘focused on having another big year,’ not hype
Perreault attended Rangers development camp earlier this summer and didn’t discuss his plans past this season. It’s believed he’ll turn pro, like Gauthier did a year earlier. But Perreault said simply his focus is on trying to win the NCAA title with BC.
“Just focused on having another big year at school … hopefully win the national championship and then when that times I’ll probably discuss it with my family, my agent, obviously the Rangers see where they think I’m at, see where I think I’m at and make a decision from there,” Perreault said.
There’s also the goal of trying to help the United States repeat and win the the 2025 World Junior Championship. Perreault and Gauthier each had a big hand in helping the U.S. win gold in 2024. Gauthier had 12 points (two goals, 10 assists) for the U.S. and Perreault contributed 10 points (three goals, seven assists).
But back to Gauthier’s original points. Perreault is a crazy talented playmaker, one whose vision and smarts are considered NHL-level already at the age of 19. It is a unique skill Perreault has, to be a step ahead of his opponents, outthinking them at every turn. It’s something that jumps off the page and makes him such a highly-anticipated NHL prospect.
Scott Wheeler called Perreault a “slick one-on-one player” is his summer prospect rankings in The Athletic and 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).”
John Vanbiesbrouck, the former Rangers goalie and current assistant executive director of hockey operations with USA Hockey, told Forever Blueshirts as much this past summer. He also dismissed Perreault’s lack of size (listed as 5-foot-11, 178 pounds) being an issue.
“Everybody’s going to want to play with him because he’s a great playmaker,” Vanbiesbrouck explained. “People may say they’re not so sure about him. I’m pretty sure about him.”
The Rangers are pretty sure, as well. And it could be as soon as next season that Perreault will be doing his thing on Broadway.
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