Jacob Perreault – Sarnia Sting – Player Profile

Height: 5’11”

Weight: 198 Pounds

Date of birth: April 15,2002

Hometown: Hinsdale, Illinois

Position: Right Wing

Shoots: Right

OHL Draft: Round 1, 19^th overall, 2018 Priority Selection

NHL Central Scouting Rankings

Pre-season	November	Mid-term	Final
A Prospect	A Prospect	17 N.A.	17 N.A.

Jacob Perreault was selected as the second to last pick of the first round of the 2018 Ontario Hockey League Priority Selection. The son of former NHL’er Yanic Perreault, he was born on April 15, 2002 in Montreal Quebec while dad was a member of the Montreal Canadiens.

Perreault has two brothers and a sister also involved in hockey. Youngest brother Gabriel (14) just finished this season with the Chicago Mission. Older sister Liliane (20) just completed her second season in the NCAA at Mercyhurst University. The eldest, Jeremy (21) last played for the Chicago Cougars of the USPHL. Dad is still in the game as a Development Coach with the Chicago Blackhawks.

During the 2017-2018 season, Perreault played for the Chicago Mission Under-16 squad and in 20 games scored 14 goals and added 11 helpers leading the HPHL in goals and points.

Perreault burst onto the scene with the Sting a season ago and finished second among rookies in goals with 30 and fourth in points with 55 while playing in 63 games. He was named to the OHL First All-Rookie squad.

This season, Perreault has done nothing short of solidifying his draft position. He finished the shortened year with 39 goals and 31 assists in 57 games.

While Perreault is predominantly a winger, he has at times shown the ability of playing down the middle. His father was a force in the faceoff circle, the best ever since the NHL started keeping faceoff statistics winning 61.1% of his draws. It’s something the younger Perreault has learned from his father. While he only took 104 draws, he won 60 of them, good for 57.7%.

Perreault has an elite level shot, one of the best in the entire OHL let alone the draft class. He gets it off with such a deceptive release, it’s hard and it is deadly accurate. But most importantly, he can beat goaltenders from anywhere inside the offensive zone with it. With an 18.8 shooting percentage, you can see how deadly his shot can be. But he also possesses a superb back hand, and a half-slap one-timer that fools just about everyone.

While there have been some questions raised about Perreault’s skating, any issues should have been put to rest at the Kubota CHL/NHL Top Prospects Game on-ice testing. While Perreault finished second in overall testing to Jean-Luc Foudy, widely considered the best skater in the draft class, it was Perreault that finished atop the rankings in on-ice testing, leading the way in 30-meter forward skating, 30-meter forward skating with the puck, reaction, weave agility with the puck, second in weave agility and third in transition agility with the puck. (See full results here).

At 5’11”, Perreault isn’t exactly big. But he has a lot of muscle in his frame weighing in at 198 pounds. While he doesn’t shy away from physicality, he is at his best when he escapes defenders and gets himself into open situations where he can unleash his shot. How dangerous he can be in space is evidenced when there is open ice on the powerplay. Perreault finished second among draft eligible players in powerplay goals.

That said, his goals to assist ratio suggest Perreault plays with a shoot first mentality. And while he possesses an elite shot and can score in multiple ways, we sometimes feel that Perreault passes up opportunities to shoot or take the puck to the net or carry it with possession, something he’s capable of, he is dishing off to teammates instead.

One of three things can explain that: 1) he lacks confidence, 2) he doesn’t think the game at a high enough level, or 3) Perreault is a raw talented player that just needs to gain more experience. We lean heavily towards number three.

As pointed out earlier, Perreault is a very good skater who is very strong on his edges. But often times he skates off balance and can be prone to being knocked off the puck. Finding consistency is also key for Perrault. At times he has shown he can dominate and take over a game but at times you wonder if he even played.

The tools are there, the hockey sense is there. It’s just a matter of finding some consistency and confidence and putting it all together.

I wouldn’t bet against him!

You can find Perreault among the leaders in a variety of draft eligible statistical leaders.