With Boston College’s loss to Denver in the Frozen Four, all eyes are on prized prospect Gabe Perreault’s ELC. His entry level contract will be a three year deal per the CBA, and the question isn’t about if he signs, it’s about when. But the “when” isn’t about a date, it’s about contract start date. If the Rangers sign him to play this season, they burn a full year of his ELC for less than 10 games (assuming the Rangers miss the playoffs) when all is said and done. Is it worth it?
On the surface, it seems foolish to burn a year of an ELC for, at most, six or seven regular games. The playoffs are no guarantee, and Montreal still holds games in hand that won’t even out until this weekend. Peter Laviolette has had a questionable year when it comes to putting skilled prospects in scoring roles as well, so it’s a mix that may blow up in the Rangers face.
However the cap ceiling is rising fast, and it’s highly unlikely Perreault goes from two-year pro to massive contract extension. The last player the Rangers burned an ELC year on was Chris Kreider, and he didn’t start making big money until his third contract. Perreault is more skilled than Kreider was at that point, but the point still remains. Perreault would not only need to be skilled enough to stick in the NHL, but get top line minutes and powerplay time to make his contract demands explode.
Burning a year on Gabe Perreault’s ELC is about optics too
One thing we can’t ignore about burning a year on Gabe Perreault’s ELC is the optics of past top picks. All three of Lias Andersson, Vitali Kravtsov, and Kaapo Kakko have had very ugly and very public fallings out (falling outs?) with the Rangers. These were top-ten picks that all left the Rangers on a sour note, and all voiced their frustrations publicly.
If anything, the ask to burn a year of Gabe Perreault’s ELC is a minor inconvenience at worst. The Rangers need to repair their relationship with not just their current prospects–add the usage of Brennan Othmann and Brett Berard to the list too–but with future prospects as well. The likelihood of Perreault pulling a Cutter Gauthier is slim and almost non-existent, but starting off with a lack of trust doesn’t help anyone. It behooves the Rangers to start to mend these optics.
It really doesn’t matter
In the grand scheme of things, it doesn’t matter if the Rangers burn a year of Gabe Perreault’s ELC. It amounts to maybe a few million dollars over the course of a long term contract extension, but only if Perreault significantly outperforms all expectations. He’s not Connor McDavid. He’s not Artemi Panarin. He’s a solid top-six prospect.
I personally wouldn’t burn a year of Gabe Perreault’s ELC, but if that’s what it takes, so be it.
