By now, Gabe Perreault agrees, the game has started to slow down for him.
He has skated in 27 games with the Rangers this season. He has collected 11 points, including a career-best three during their overtime loss to the Blue Jackets on Monday, and flashed the dynamic offensive skill set that defined the former first-round pick’s game with Boston College and AHL Hartford.
That latest sample — which fueled a four-goal comeback in the third period — served as the most recent glimpse of Perreault’s potential in his first extended NHL stint. Head coach Mike Sullivan said he bumped Perreault up to skate with Vincent Trocheck in overtime because of his performance, too.
And all of a sudden, in the middle of a lost season filled with constant shuffling, the Rangers finally have a prospect seemingly positioned to end their development woes.
“I wouldn’t say he’s the fastest or the strongest or the biggest, but he’s really quick to pucks and has a great stick and his hockey brain really helps him a lot — and he’s obviously got elite skill,” Rangers forward J.T. Miller, who skated alongside Perreault on the first line recently before landing on injured reserve Tuesday, said postgame Monday.
The lack of production from top Blueshirts draft picks — from Alexis Lafrenière and Brennan Othmann to the since-traded Kaapo Kakko and Filip Chytil — has spanned coaching staffs.
There have been spurts, with Lafrenière’s 2024 postseason being the most recent example before Perreault, but all, at some point, faded.
There was always a chance for Perreault to snap the drought. The last two months have only solidified that.
Perreault ripped a shot from the slot Monday to make it 4-2, and then he tied the game later in the third period by skating toward the right side of the net and lifting a shot past Blue Jackets goaltender Elvis Merzlikins.
Both instances captured Perreault hanging onto pucks longer or taking shots himself, and he finished with a career-best six shots on goal against Columbus, according to Hockey Reference.
He also became the first Rangers rookie 20 years old or younger to have a three-point period since Alex Kovalev in December 1993, according to the team, and Perreault became the ninth rookie in the NHL this season to have at least two multigoal games.
That, in the short-term, meant the Rangers had a top line capable of producing like one with the addition of Perreault, though shuffling will follow after Miller’s upper-body injury.
And, in the long-term, Perreault has kept delivering reminders that he has as good of a chance as anyone to become the prospect that sticks.
“I feel like I’ve been getting a lot of chances these last couple games,” Perreault said Monday, “and it feels good to get a couple go in.”
The Rangers recalled forwards Jaroslav Chmelar and Juuso Parssinen from Hartford, while forward Brendan Brisson and defenseman Scott Morrow were assigned to the Wolf Pack.