Photo Credit: Metcalfe Photography
As the Philadelphia Flyers continue to ascend to the top of the Metro Division standings and make their case for a long playoff run, their group of attainable draft eligible prospects moves to a different batch of young men. These prospects may require a bit more intense scrutiny from the scouts (then those once-overs slated in the top ten would) to find that next star amongst the masses to join the Orange and Black.
You may have been pining over draft prospects like Dawson Mercer, Jack Quinn, or Connor Zary to be making their way to the Virtua Center- the Philadelphia Flyers’ practice rink in Vorhees, New Jersey for Rookie Camp this summer. Fortuntely/unfortunately, with how the Flyers are playing as of late, all those players will have already walked across the stage and taken pictures in their new teams jerseys by the time Chuck Fletcher (the Flyers General Manger) walks up to the mic. So, who might be left? One guy’s name that deserves to be in your YouTube search bar history is the young 17-year-old Jacob Perreault, who currently plays for the Sarnia Sting of the Ontario Hockey League (OHL).
Jacob (who stands 5’11″ and 198 pounds) currently sits at 11th in the OHL in goals this season. He is ahead of guys that will be drafted well before him like Cole Perfetti, Marco Rossi, and Quinton Byfield; all of whom are projected to be in the top ten of most experts 2020 draft boards. Perreault has everything these other guys have and more. He possesses notably one of the best shots in the draft; whether he is taking it via a wrist shot, snap-shot, one timer, back hand- it doesn’t matter: They all torch the back of the net. Jacob can, and does, attack from anywhere! With a lightning quick release to his shot and an explosive first step that often allows Perreault to escape on a breakaway, Jacob is outfitted with just about every move in the books (besides maybe Charlie Conway’s triple deek from Disney’s The Mighty Ducks trilogy). Jacob’s breakaways often end with a celebration and a spinning red light. With these traits, Jacob’s dad Yanic (a former NHL’er with many 20+ goal seasons under his belt) must be both proud and anxious to see just where his 2.0 might end up come this June.
At just 16-years-old and in his first year in the OHL (2018-2019) Jacob netted 30 goals and 25 assists for 55 points in just 63 games played- Not bad for a kid just learning to drive. Perreault has already matched his totals from last year and now is surpassing them with ease with 37 goals and 30 assists totaling 67 points- with games still left to play. It’s hard to see just why this finisher’s name isn’t jumping off draft boards like some of the others mentioned above. One (and possibly the only) factor that might be hurting this young sniper’s draft stock is his lack of defensive play. Even with scoring all those goals Perreault is still a minus 36 on the year. Not to fear though- Not all young talented prospects come into draft day knowing how to be a 200ft player like the Flyers’ Sean Couturier did back in 2011 after a phenomenal year with the Drummondville Voltigeurs.
On June 26th of this year the Flyers’ Brass would be wise to look at this young budding star. The team as a whole needs a pure goal scorer and Jacob could develop into just that. Perreault is not a guy that could step into the lineup as early as next year, but Philadelphia doesn’t need that from him. They would prosper from letting this young prospect get some more seasoning in the OHL next year, where Perreault would benefit from developing the defensive side of his game (fingers crossed).
