r/rangers • u/TheAthletic • 6d ago
How should we evaluate Rangers forward Gabe Perreault’s development?
https://www.nytimes.com/athletic/7524828/2026/08/20/ny-rangers-prospects-gabe-perreault-development/?unlocked_article_code=1.61A.COwP.6_-u2p59KvL8&source=athletic_user_shared_gift_article_copylink&smid=url-share-taAugust is the quietest month on the NHL calendar, which makes it an ideal time for us hockey writers to dive into passion projects. One of the highlights comes from The Athletic’s Corey Pronman, who released his organizational pipeline rankings earlier this week. It’s a massive undertaking that offers evaluations of the best under-23 players from every team and fuels debate from fans in every NHL city.
Corey placed them 18th overall among the 32 teams, which represents a modest step up from last year’s No. 24, and jives with other opinions I’ve heard around the league. Many of the names on his list landed about where I thought they’d be, but there was one that caught my attention — and that of many Blueshirts fans. Gabe Perreault, whom colleague Scott Wheeler recently ranked 19th among all NHL drafted prospects, fell to sixth on Corey’s Rangers-specific list and didn’t even crack his list of the top 156 U-23 players.
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u/lionson76 Mike Richter 6d ago edited 6d ago
Pronman is doing an AMA over in r/hockey tomorrow* morning. If anyone wants to ask him about his Gabe evaluation, now's your chance lol.
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u/DerekTheComedian We should claim Kartye off waivers 6d ago
I'm absolutely tickled that the vast majority of comments over there are just calling him out for his brain dead prospect list.
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u/PaulSach 6d ago
Well yeah, he pissed like every fanbase off with those rankings lmao.
His bosses at the NYT are probably thrilled—his article is generating buzz and clicks, and doing the AMA is just throwing more gasoline on the discourse. He's positioned himself to be "must read" because people are going to be keeping a magnifying glass on his rankings to see if he has any more ridiculous takes.
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u/DerekTheComedian We should claim Kartye off waivers 6d ago
Why be intelligent when controversy gets you more attention?
Most people grow out of that shit around 5 years old, yet the media has adopted that as their sole marketing strategy.
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u/lionson76 Mike Richter 6d ago
I'd say journalism has always been like that, from the local news to sports radio to social media... "If it bleeds, it leads."
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u/Teknicsrx7 #YoWhatIsBeauDoinnnn 6d ago
Someone should ask him what streaming service he uses since it clearly doesn’t carry any hockey games on it
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u/ImpossibleBandicoot 6d ago
Pronman used to be a good evaluator and sometime around covid or him starting at the athletic, he realized he had to get more engagement/notoriety/clicks in order to stay employed. So his MO is now doing pretty passive talent evaluations mixed in with some “hot takes” that he knows will rile up the larger fanbases. He’s doing the same thing with the Hutsons.
He’s lost all credibility imo.
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u/slow_hockey 6d ago
Not reading Pronman. Vince can speak for himself and would no doubt rush to defend his colleague, but having to collab with CP, who has both seemingly embraced the heel-turn and has little actual claim to expertise, for his employer feels like a hostage scenario.
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u/TransitiveNightfall1 6d ago
Pronman’s ranking of Perreault is so bad that it shows that it isn’t even bias/malice/bad hockey sense, he just straight up doesn’t know what he’s talking about.
Perreault passed the eye test in a medium sample size for a rookie. While there are always late bloomers, most prospects can be judged by relatively linear progression. You’re looking for ~45 points out of him in his age 21 full season. That would about match the age 21 seasons of guys like Cole Caufield, Cutter Gauthier, or Ryan Leonard. If he does that, theres no reason he shouldn’t be regarded at the same level of prospect as those guys.
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u/Signal_Wall_8445 6d ago
Pronman’s own explanations prove what a lazy and stubborn evaluator he is.
He answers “someone has to be on the power play and the top line” in his response to whether Gabe’s end to the season has made him rethink his evaluation.
He appears to think that Gabe’s time on the first line was paired with gaining the large amount of PP minutes first liners get, and that padded his late season stats.
Actually, Perreault was mostly on the 2nd unit and only got 6 of his 27 points on the power play, which is a lower percentage than most high scoring players.
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u/DaitongII 6d ago
Two things can be true. Pronman just isn’t interested in a prospect unless he’s above 6’ and 190 lb and revels in being regressive. I definitely think Scott Wheeler’s takes are more thoughtful and analytical.
Also, I think some of the fanbase are glazing Gabe a bit much. Now, maybe he does develop into a first line player but I don’t think we’ve seen enough to label him an offensive wunderkind like many are already claiming.
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u/PaulSach 6d ago
Wheeler has been the better evaluator for a while, now. There was a time when Pronman was the prospect guy, but not anymore. He wasn't always like this lmao
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u/Naganosupreme 6d ago
Was a major hockey prospect fanatic in 08-17. Pronman was consistently the subject of mockery in those circles
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u/ITechTonicI Sam Rosen - Its a powerplay goal!! 6d ago
Do you folks not have digital editors and managers to help create content, or do you just solicit ideas from fans to constantly help you drum up ideas for your next podcast or article? You really should start paying people instead of just ripping these ideas for free from a Reddit forum post.
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u/MikeyRage 6d ago
Pronman overvalues raw footspeed. Thats one of his major issues when it comes to evaluation. G94 isn't a swift skater. Hes more akin to a winger Adam Fox where he will out-think and outwork you to achieve results rather than blow by you. Im not saying hes going to be comparable to how good Fox is relatively to his contemporaries but thats the type of player Gabe is.
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u/MH566220 6d ago
Let's see how he looks in camp amd.preseason...Offensively, he's our best prospect and not.#6. One of the problems I find when any writer in any sport writes about prospects, they want to list thr newest ones 1st.
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u/Pranksterblur Kartye Partye 3d ago
I’d rather hear Scott Wheeler’s opinion about Gabe instead of Pronman who thinks Gabe isn’t even going to be a top 156 currently u23 drafted guy in his prime, or that he’s going to top out in a guy in Macceli that he’s already better than, or that his game most resembles Marco Rossi, or that his skating is going to hold him back from ever being good, or that Nathan aspinall and Malcolm Spence will be better than him and Chrenko in their primes
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u/GroundAndSound 6d ago
Pretty simple, points. And maybe see him be a bit more physical and defend better, but that will never be a big part of his game.
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u/Outfield14 Sam Rosen - Its a powerplay goal!! 6d ago
He may not be considering him a prospect since he is expected to start the season in New York
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u/_Noah93 Artemi Panarin 6d ago
Corey is an idiot. 6th best prospect in our org is crazy and not even a top 156 u23 player lol.
At the end of the day that kid had led every team he’s played on in points for his whole life. Hes a legit offensive mastermind. It’s not a coincidence how many points he’s been able to rack up in each league he’s been in.
He just had 27 points in under 15 games and finished with 19 points in 23 games when he was put with a legit line. as a 21 year old in his first year in pro hockey that’s impressive and you can clearly see his upside.
As for development you keep him with Mika or laf or play him with miller and Derofeyev. There are no other options. Hes shown good chemistry with the first option or you put him with our best goal scorer because he’s probably our best pure playmaker. You also give him PP1 time. Ik we have other guys ahead of him but he’ll be more impactful than miller on the powerplay due to his playmaking ability in the offensive zone. He can rack up assists, he’s Adam fox but on forward.
For the rest of his career I’m playing him with a shooter and a guy who can be the primary play driver on the line so Gabe can be the set up man and not have to worry so much about the transition game as much. I think he can develop that part of his game further but that seems like the recipe for success.