NY Rangers 2023 prospect rankings: There's a new No. 1 in town

Beginning Aug. 28, lohud.com and the USA TODAY Network is releasing our fifth annual ranking of the top 10 prospects in the New York Rangers' organization.

These prospect profiles, with one set to be revealed each weekday through Sept. 8, are based on conversations with over 20 sources in total. They include coaches, trainers and executives who have worked closely with these young players, pro and amateur scouts from around the world and many of the prospects themselves. Any players who are eligible for the Calder Trophy − 25 or younger and have not played more than 25 NHL games in a season, nor six or more games in any two preceding seasons − are up for consideration.

No. 1: LW/RW Gabe Perreault

There's a new No. 1 in town.

At least, that's the consensus among many who were polled for this year's lohud.com/USA TODAY ranking of the top prospects in the Rangers' system.

Gabe Perreault, the record-breaking forward who New York tapped with 23rd overall selection in this year's NHL Draft, has seized the title for the time being.

"He's a brilliant mind with brilliant skill," said one scout who made it clear their vote was for Perreault. "The rest of it has to come along – his body, his skating – but he's a brilliant player."

Brilliance is a term that shouldn't be thrown around lightly, but anyone you ask about the U.S. National Team Development Program product raves about the way he processes the game and makes calculated decisions on the fly.

"It's his smarts – the way he can think himself around the ice," USNTDP under-18 assistant coach Chad Kolarik said. "He had to have been the smartest player in the draft, and I'll go on record saying that. That's what kind of puts him above everybody else. I'll go as far as to say he might be the steal of the 2023 NHL Draft."

Despite racking up 132 points (53 goals and 79 assists) in just 63 games last season − and breezing past the previous USNTDP high mark of 117 from current Maple Leafs star Auston Matthews − Perreault was passed on 22 times before the Rangers finally called his name.

Why the wait?

The main reason is, at 5-foot-11 and 165 pounds with questionable speed and strength, he lacks the eye-catching physical traits of many of his first-round peers.

"The game keeps getting faster and the knock on him is skating," said another scout who slightly preferred fellow winger Brennan Othmann as the top prospect in the Rangers' organization. "I think it’s a real (concern). His dad (14-year NHL veteran Yanic Perreault) kind of had a similar challenge – skilled, but ended up being more of a role player."

More prospect rankings: No. 2 brings scoring, grit and winning track record

That same scout noted that Perreault was a good value pick where the Blueshirts got him − "He’s got top-six hockey sense and playmaking," they said − while others sounded less worried about the skating.

"I would say that's overstated by some," Kolarik argued. "Is he the fastest skater? No, he’s not. But he's not a bad skater. I think being the smartest player on the ice and being in the spots you need to be, it's almost being faster than you have to be, if that makes sense, because you're always one step ahead of the play – and he is."

The other common question about Perreault is how much he benefitted from playing on a loaded line featuring two other forwards who were selected in the top eight of this year's draft − center Will Smith (No. 4 overall to the San Jose Sharks) and right-winger Ryan Leonard (No. 8 overall to the Washington Capitals).

That wasn't a deterrent for the Rangers, with director of player personnel and amateur scouting John Lilley saying, "Each game, one of those three guys drove the line. It wasn’t just one of them. ... Gabe was a very important part of that line."

Kolarik wholeheartedly agreed.

"They each had their own unique set of skills," he said. "Will was the puck lugger. He was the one making the plays through the neutral zone, where Ryan Leonard is more meat and potatoes. He's the guy that's going to be out-powering you. He's going to take it to the net (and) he's going to go win pucks for the other two. And then Gabe was just Johnny on the spot. He's the smart guy that's going find the pockets and find the soft area that no one else can (see), because he knows the play is going happen before it does."

That vision and anticipation is why many project Perreault to develop into a high-end playmaker when he reaches the NHL, but he's got sneaky goal-scoring ability, too.

Then again, how sneaky can it be for a left-handed shooter who registered over 50 goals last season?

"His smarts show in his shot," Kolarik said. "They show big time. Whether it's that quick release, or it's that offhand release where the goalie's not expecting it, but he knows that there's a spot open. ... His release, it's not powerful like an (Alex) Ovechkin, but it's quick like a (Sidney) Crosby type, and he can place it wherever he wants."

Like most high-scoring prospects, Perreault's defensive game is a work in progress.

He was used as a penalty killer for the USNTDP "because he's so much smarter than everybody else (and) he can see plays happen before they do," according to Kolarik, who believes that he'll improve in that area as he learns to manage risk when hunting for takeaways. "The fine line between cheating the game and anticipating the game," is how he put it.

That will be one of the focuses as the 18-year-old begins his NCAA career at Boston College this fall, where he'll be joined by linemates Smith and Leonard, as well as fellow Rangers' draft pick and USNTDP alum Drew Fortescue.

Perreault said at development camp that "the perfect scenario would be two years" at BC before turning pro, but much of that will depend on his physical maturation.

"He’s still just a kid," Kolarik said. "He's like 165, 170 pounds soaking wet. He needs to just get stronger, but he's going to college and I think that's the right place for him to develop because they can work out during the week. They only play on the weekends. You can put on muscle mass, and I think that's the biggest challenge for him is just strength and power. That'll help with the skating in the end, as well."

How that pans out will determine if Perreault makes his ranking as the highest upside prospect in the organization look wise, but the early returns about the Rangers drafting him where they did have been overwhelmingly positive.

"He should have gone way higher," said an executive from another team. "I know some teams had him ranked in their top 10 who didn’t have picks. If his body were more developed and his skating was a little bit cleaner, he would have been a top-10 pick all day long."

Vincent Z. Mercogliano is the New York Rangers beat reporter for the USA TODAY Network. Read more of his work at lohud.com/sports/rangers/ and follow him on Twitter @vzmercogliano.

This article originally appeared on Rockland/Westchester Journal News: NY Rangers 2023 prospect rankings: No. 1 Gabe Perreault