Colin Stephenson: Development of Rangers' Gabe Perrault will be focus in final 20 games of season
Gabe Perreault of the New York Rangers against the Columbus Blue Jackets at Madison Square Garden on March 2, 2026. Credit: Jim McIsaac
PHILADELPHIA – These last 20 games of the season, even if they don’t have significance as far as their playoff chances, are hardly meaningless for the Rangers. In fact they’re quite important, as coach Mike Sullivan and general manager Chris Drury try to figure out what they have in the organization, and what they need.
“We’re going to try to continue to win games,’’ Sullivan said Saturday, the day after the trade deadline, when the roster was set for the remainder of the season. “We're going to try to continue to find out about our group. We're going to continue to try to move the needle, and get better every day. And so we'll push these guys every day.’’
That day, in what ended up being a 6-3 loss to their Hudson River rival Devils, and USA Olympic hero Jack Hughes, Sullivan played rookie Gabe Perreault a career high 22 minutes and 21 seconds.
“Obviously, I've been playing a lot, I'm getting a lot of opportunity, and kind of gaining a little bit of trust [from the coaching staff], it feels like,’’ Perreault said Monday after the Rangers’ morning skate at Xfinity Mobile Arena before the Blueshirts’ game against the Philadelphia Flyers.
Perreault will continue to get a lot of ice time the rest of the way, as the Rangers seek to continue the development of the 20-year-old winger who right now appears to be the future of the franchise.
With J.T. Miller presently on injured reserve with an upper-body injury, Perreault, who had two goals and an assist in last Monday’s 5-4 OT loss to Columbus, has been added the power play’s first unit, where Vincent Trocheck said he doesn’t look at all out of place.
“He has skill, he has great vision,’’ Trocheck said. “I mean, he sees things that most guys don't, so he will be just fine as a power play guy. It'll just take some time to get acclimated with guys.’’
Which is what the entire rest of this season will be about for Perreault, and the Rangers. If the current “retool,’’ declared by Drury in his Jan. 16 message to the fans, is to be successful, Perreault, their first round draft pick in 2023, is going to need to become a star.
The Rangers’ current core consists of centers Mika Zibanejad, J.T. Miller and Trocheck, all 32, goaltender Igor Shesterkin, 30, and defensemen Adam Fox, 28, and Vladislav Gavrikov, 30. It’s an aging core, and the next generation hasn’t stepped up to take enough of the load off their shoulders.
Alexis Lafreniere, 24, the No. 1 pick overall in the 2020 draft, still shows potential at times, but hasn’t developed into the star he was expected to. His former Kid Line linemates Kaapo Kakko, the No. 2 pick overall in 2019, and 2017 first-rounder Filip Chytil, didn’t either, and both were traded away last season. Brennan Othmann, their 2021 first-round pick, was traded to Calgary at the deadline Friday in search of a fresh start.
Braden Schneider, the Rangers’ other first-round pick in 2020, and Will Cuylle, their second-round pick that year, both 24, are good young players, but hardly can be viewed as entering-their-prime team cornerstones.
Perreault, who had five goals and six assists in 29 games this season entering Monday, still has a chance to be that. By his own admission, he’s come a long way from the slender prospect who started the season with AHL Hartford. He’s improved his work on the boards and on the defensive side of the puck, but he’s also learning on the job at the offensive end, too, figuring out what used to work at lower levels but won’t here, while also gaining the confidence to trust his instincts and try to make plays that others are afraid to.
“There's times where you see a play, and if you're confident, then you try it,’’ he said. “And that definitely comes with trust (in oneself) and and confidence. You know, kind of, at first, I guess you're probably gripping your stick a little bit tighter than I am now.’’
“I think the best teacher for Gabe right now is the experience itself, and just playing the games, and figuring out how to have success in different situations,’’ Sullivan said. “He's got high aptitude for the game, and I think the experiences he's going through have been invaluable.’’
It’s all part of the growth of a young player. And the Rangers need it to continue over these final 20 games.
Colin Stephenson covers the Rangers for Newsday. He has spent more than two decades covering the NHL and just about every sports team in the New York metropolitan area.
