Prospect Update: Jacob Perreault

By Thomas Harrington 

Anaheim’s second first round pick from 2020, winger Jacob Perreault, spent most of this past season playing in the AHL. He also made his NHL debut with Anaheim.

Perreault was supposed to be playing in the OHL this year, but because he played in at least 20 AHL games the year before because of the pandemic, he was allowed to play in the AHL again this past season. Last year, Perreault played in 55 games for the Gulls, scoring 14 goals and 37 points, and primarily played on the team’s first and second lines. The highlight of his season came in November when he scored a Michigan goal, becoming the second player in Gulls history to do so. He finished third on the Gulls in goals and assists and fourth in points.

Perreault had a great start to the season with points in 10 of the first 11 games. He hit a bit of a cold streak after that, but found his offensive game again in March, as he had points in seven straight games, including four straight two point games. He played in both of San Diego’s playoff games and recorded one assist but didn’t play a ton, especially late in game two. Perreault’s lone NHL game came in January against the New York Rangers. He played just over 11 minutes and finished with a -1 rating.

I had a couple of expectations for Perreault last year, and he definitely met them. My first was to simply be better than the previous season. He increased his goal total from three to 14 and his point total from 17 to 37, so he definitely accomplished this. Second, I wanted his shot total to go up. Well, playing in more games means it should happen, but more importantly, his shots per game increased from 1.33 to 2.36 as he fired 130 shots on goal.

Perreault was supposed to spend the past two seasons in the OHL with this coming year being his first in the AHL. Instead, he already has two years of experience with San Diego and is gearing up for his third. That will hopefully give him an advantage going into this year. He already has an idea of what it takes to succeed in the AHL, now he needs to show what he’s learned over the past two years.

I have a couple of expectations for Perreault this coming year. First, assuming he plays in enough games with the Gulls, I want him to set new career highs in goals, assists, and points. Second, when in San Diego, for him to not go through any lengthy pointless streaks. On three separate occasions, he had pointless streaks of four games or more, topped with a six game pointless streak late November and early December. Finally, I want him back in an Anaheim uniform this season. He doesn’t need to play a ton of games with the Ducks, but I want him getting more NHL experience this year.

While I expect Perreault to see more time with Anaheim this season, I don’t think he’s ready for a full time job in the NHL yet. The Ducks don’t have an incredibly deep lineup, so if any players from San Diego have a great training camp, they could make the NHL for most or all of the season. He could surprise me, but Perreault is still young and was supposed to have spent the past two years in juniors, not the AHL. I’m hoping the extra time with San Diego has helped Perreault’s development, but I think he needs more time there to continue to improve his game. If he can dominate with San Diego this season, or even just be very good, I think he’ll have a legitimate shot at spending most of, if not the entire season with Anaheim in the 2023-2024 season.

Despite having played in the AHL for the past two years, Perreault’s entry-level deal doesn’t begin until this season and runs for the next three years. So the Ducks will have seen Perreault get five years of professional competition between the AHL and NHL before they decide what kind of contract extension he’ll get. He had a great second season in the AHL, and if he really breaks out offensively in the next year or two and then spends the rest of the contract in the NHL, I expect him to get a one-way contract with a decent term in three years. However, if he’s still primarily an AHL player in three years, the Ducks will probably re-sign him to a two-way contract for a year or two and let him continue to work on and develop his game.

The next prospect update will be on Artyom Galimov.

Related Articles:

Prospect Update: Ian Moore

Prospect Update: Jack Perbix

Prospect Update: Henry Thrun

Prospect Update: Thimo Nickl

Prospect Update: Trevor Janicke

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September 24th, 2022