Rangers top prospect has 3 points to help lead United States into semifinals at 2025 World Juniors – Forever Blueshirts

After being held off the score sheet in two straight games, New York Rangers prospect Gabe Perreault had three assists Thursday to help the United States advance to the semifinals at the 2025 World Junior Championship with a 7-2 win against Switzerland.

Perreault assisted on each of the three goals scored by the U.S. in the second period, which expanded their lead at the time to 7-1. The 19-year-old forward now has seven points (two goals, five assists) in five games for the United States, after helping them win the gold medal at the 2024 WJC, when he totaled 10 points (three goals, seven assists) in seven games.

A first-round pick (No. 23 overall) by the Rangers in the 2023 NHL Draft, Perreault lived up to his reputation as a highly-skilled forward, who has elite on-ice vision and awareness.

It’s something former Rangers goalie John Vanbiesbrouck , the U.S. general manager again for the World Juniors, discussed with Forever Blueshirts last summer.

“He loves his teammates. He’s jut going to be a world-class player when that love turns into sharing the puck. Everybody’s going to want to play with him because he’s a great playmaker,” Vanbiesbrouck explained.

Perreault’s first assist came off the rush on the power play. United States defenseman Zeev Buium sprinted up the middle with the puck, dished a backhand pass to Perreault in full flight on left wing to create a 2-on-0 down low. Perreault then delivered a quick pass back to Buium to complete the pretty goal at 7:45 of the second period.

Perreault and James Hagens executed a perfect give-and-go at 15:03 of the second period to make it 6-1. The Rangers prospect filled the middle on a 3-on-2 rush and the puck didn’t last long on his stick before he made a slick return feed for Hagens to bury his second goal of the game and fourth of the tournament.

There was one more primary assist to come for Perreault before the period was over. Just 1:20 after Hagens’ goal, Ryan Leonard scored a power-play goal, his second tally of the game, after Perreault’s on-point feed from near the goal line from left wing to Leonard alone in front made it 7-1.

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2 Rangers prospects advance to semifinals at 2025 World Juniors with United States

Drew Fortescue — Photo courtesy Boston College

In 15:56 TOI against Switzerland, Perreault led the United States with three points, though he did not record a single shot on goal. He finished plus-two and also won two of three face-offs.

Drew Fortescue, a third-round pick by the Rangers in 2023, played his typical quietly effective game on the blue line. The 19-year-old defenseman logged 16:20 TOI and remained without a point at the WJC. Perreault’s Boston College teammate also helped the U.S. win the 2024 World Juniors, when he played a shutdown role on defense and contributed four points (one goal, three assists).

Rico Gredig, a sixth-round pick by the Rangers in the 2024 draft, did not have a point for Switzerland on Thursday. The 19-year-old forward had two shots on goal, was minus-2 and won only 33 percent of his face-offs (6 of 18) in 15:57 TOI.

Top-ranked Sweden also advanced to the semifinals with a 3-2 win against Latvia. Sweden will play the lowest-ranked team remaining in the semis, and the United States will play the other quarterfinals winner.

That scenario could set up a rematch between the United States and Finland, which handed the U.S. a 4-3 overtime loss in the preliminary round.

Jim Cerny is Executive Editor at Forever Blueshirts and Managing Editor at Sportsnaut, with more than 30 years of … More about Jim Cerny

Mentioned in this article: Drew Fortescue Gabe Perreault Rangers Prospects Rico Gredig World Junior Championship

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