Can someone post The Athlete article on Perrault and Fortescue?
- TC88
Rangers prospects Gabe Perreault, Drew Fortescue searching for one last win before pros
BOSTON, MASSACHUSETTS - MARCH 23: Will Smith #6 of the Boston College Eagles celebrates his third goal of four on the game against the Boston University Terriers with his teammates Ryan Leonard #9, Gabe Perreault #34, Eamon Powell #2 and Drew Fortescue #5 during the third period during the Hockey East Championship final at TD Garden on March 23, 2024 in Boston, Massachusetts. The Eagles won 6-2 and captured their first Hockey East title in twelve years. (Photo by Richard T Gagnon/Getty Images)
Arthur Staple
Arthur Staple
Feb 14, 2025
34
Gabe Perreault was never going to turn pro after last season. Neither was Drew Fortescue. The two 2023 Rangers draft picks, selected 23rd and 90th, were part of two amazing teams last year, winning gold with the U.S. World Junior team and reaching the final of the NCAA hockey tournament with a loaded Boston College team.
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Perreault might have had some thoughts about leaving BC after a 60-point freshman season, one of the best college hockey years from an 18-year-old in the last 20 years. But still weighing in at under 170 pounds, the Rangers’ 2024-25 lineup was no sure thing, especially after the team that drafted Perreault went to the Eastern Conference final.
Fortescue fits a different profile: A rangy, stay-at-home defenseman who still had a pretty good run for his 18-year-old season, playing mostly second-pair minutes for a BC team that fell just short of its goal and just short of making these two Rangers prospects, plus Will Smith, Ryan Leonard, Cutter Gauthier and goalie Jacob Fowler, double champs for the season.
So they were both assured of coming back to BC. Smith left for the Sharks, Gauthier for the Ducks and Leonard, after long deliberation, decided not to turn pro and join the Capitals organization. Perreault and Leonard, part of the best line in college hockey with Smith last season, plugged surefire 2025 top-5 pick James Hagens into the middle and resumed their domination.
Fortescue moved up coach Greg Brown’s depth chart to the top pair with BC captain Eamon Powell. In their return trip to the World Juniors with the U.S. squad, Perreault was on the left side of the top line with his BC linemates Hagens and Leonard; Fortescue was on the top defense pair with electric Wild prospect Zeev Buium.
They won gold again. And now, all that’s left is one more win in April for the top-ranked Eagles.
“We all talked about it before the season started,” Perreault said. “We just want to get back to that game and win it this time. That’s the goal.”
Perreault, who has beefed up to 178 pounds, is otherwise ready to be a pro. He’s not likely to hit 60 points this college season, but he’ll leave BC at the end of this run with over 100 points, plus a bit more depth to his game.
“His offensive stuff is still there of course, the creativity and all that, but he’s managing it better,” Brown said. “There are no careless turnovers or just thinking offense. He’s really understanding what needs to be done at that time in a game, making simple plays, keeping the game moving in the right direction as the clock goes down. It’s winning hockey.”
While nothing has changed for Perreault’s trajectory, the pro landscape for his team certainly has. The question coming into this BC and Rangers season was whether Perreault would fit on a team trying to make a Stanley Cup run. Now Perreault and Rangers watchers are trying to figure out if the Rangers will have any games left for Perreault to play in once BC’s season is done.
The Frozen Four final is scheduled for April 12 in St. Louis. The Rangers have two regular-season games left after that. It’s a tight squeeze and there’s the matter of whether the Rangers would be willing to burn a year off Perreault’s entry-level deal to get him to the NHL, but all signs point to Perreault joining the pro ranks when this season is done.
“It’s obviously everyone’s dream to be there, but this is where my focus is,” he said. “It’ll be a discussion with my family, my agent, the Rangers when the time comes. Whether it’s this year or down the line, you just want to make the most of it.”
Fortescue, who also needed the offseason to get some bulk (he’s 180 pounds at 6-foot-2), is still a question mark after this college season is done. He’s rocketed up the Rangers’ prospect ranks given where he was drafted and the Rangers declined to discuss trading him as part of the package for J.T. Miller, choosing to send promising 22-year-old Victor Mancini to the Canucks instead.
And there’s a pretty big need for left-shot defense-first types in the organization all of a sudden. Ryan Lindgren is more likely to be traded before the March 7 NHL trade deadline than extended; K’Andre Miller has steadied a wobbly season, but he’s a pending RFA and contract talks haven’t progressed much this year. Behind those two it’s Urho Vaakanainen, Zac Jones and Matthew Robertson. Not exactly future top-four stalwarts anywhere outside of Miller.
So there will be a decision to make with Fortescue and the Rangers after this season. Whether he projects as a Braden Schneider type who might need just a season (or less) of AHL seasoning before being ready for bigger things or whether he’s best served to stay for a third year at BC, where he’ll do more of the same that he’s done for the Eagles and Brown so far this year, is still to be determined.
“He’s just been outstanding,” Brown said. “He was last year, too, but there’s a bit more maturity, a bit more responsibility. His decision-making with the puck was good last season and it’s better now. He’s learning to be heavier and defend against bigger guys, how to manage that if he’s at a size disadvantage. Him playing such a big role at World Juniors was huge for his confidence.”
The decision of whether to turn pro or stay in college is fraught, even if it seems obvious from the outside. Leonard could have been part of the Caps revival this season or he could have been stuck in the AHL waiting his turn; instead, he’s leading the nation in goals, was named MVP of World Juniors and might win the Hobey Baker Award as the top college player.
Smith, who put up 71 points last season, is having a decent rookie year in San Jose, overshadowed a bit by another rookie, Macklin Celebrini, but mostly overshadowed by a team that once again is at the bottom of the NHL standings. Jump too soon to a program that’s still finding its footing and the upward trajectory might stall; jump to a program that’s at the top of the NHL and you might get impatient waiting your turn.
“We’re so focused here. I watch plenty (of Rangers games), I talk to (player development director Jed Ortmeyer) from time to time, but that’s really it,” Fortescue said. “That will work itself out when the season is over.”
What the Rangers need, in addition to quality youth, are winners. Perreault and Fortescue have won plenty in the last year-plus. One more win, one more trophy, might send them both into the Rangers organization at just the right time.
