New York Rangers

The word "steal" is thrown around so often that it loses its weight. But just seven months removed from the 2023 NHL Draft, the New York Rangers appear to have found one in Gabe Perreault.

There were indicators from the start that the Rangers got good value out of their 23rd-overall pick. Perreault ranked eighth on Bleacher Report's Big Board and was a top-10 prospect on many scouts' lists.

What Perreault is doing at Boston College has taken his stock to another level. With a 19-4-1 record, BC is the top-ranked team in Men's College Hockey. With 12 goals and 31 assists in 26 games, the freshman leads the team in points.

To spell it out, Perreault is the top point producer on the top team in college hockey. Overall, the freshman winger is second in the NCAA total points (43) and is first by points-per-game (1.65).

It's a great season in any context. It's a spectacular one given that Perreault is a freshman who isn't playing true first-line minutes. Statistically speaking, he's having one of the best seasons by a post-draft player in recent memory.

Few players at the same age over the last 30 seasons have produced at the level that Perreault has. What also sticks out is that, by assists, he is virtually unparalleled.

Craig Janney was a top NHLer who had a career-high 106 points for the St. Louis Blues—more than teammates Brett Hull and Brendan Shanahan—before medical issues shut down his career. Paul Kariya is a Hall of Famer and probably the best player in college hockey history. After them it's Perreault and he's in the territory of John Leclair, Martin St. Louis, and Doug Weight.

It's difficult to put Perreault's season in context because finding comparable players requires going back decades, and the list of names is breathtaking. These aren't just good players. These are some of the best players of the previous generation.

How is he doing it? Well, with a little help from his friends. Perreault played alongside top prospects Will Smith (San Jose) and Ryan Leonard (Washington) at the US National Development Program, where they dominated.

The trio are on a line together at Boston College and their chemistry continues to overwhelm the opposition. It would be overly simplistic to pigeonhole any of them into archetypal roles, but Perreault, with his supreme hockey IQ and dexterous hands, is at his best when setting up the other two as shooters.

But the son of former NHLer Yanic Perreault isn't riding coattails here. He is, at worst, an equal part of this unstoppable Cerberus. And when the group inevitably does get separated once they go to their respective NHL teams, he may be the one with the easiest adjustment. Few prospects have Perreault's ability to read the ice. He can create offense from the perimeter but also has the hands and quick processing to make plays in the slot. There's a reason BC Head Coach Greg Moore plays him in the bumper slot on the power play.

He's made improvements in his foot speed, but that's still an area of weakness. Despite that, he's a major driver of offense through the neutral zone because of his ability to read the forecheck like a running back finding seams.

Though he is a playmaker first, he's getting hot in the goals department; Perreault has nine goals in his past 10 games for BC. He's not going to win any hardest shot competitions but he has a quick release, incredible placement, and the ability to fool goaltenders with misdirection in tight.

Let's pump the brakes a bit. Perreault's numbers, in comparison to top players from the past, don't reflect the scoring rates of different eras and other variables like usage and teammates. The Rangers have a humbling history of former draft picks who have proven that "sure-thing" top prospects are rarely that. To chalk him up for anything remotely resembling a Hall-of-Fame career would be ludicrous.

We don't need to avoid a high measure of confidence in Perreault's future as a dynamic player for the Rangers, either. The Draft Digest, which accounts for data as far back as 2000, shows that, for a second-straight season, he is producing well above the baseline for a first-line forward. The model predicts a 71.8% chance that will we become a first-line caliber offensive producer at the NHL level.

Considering that players drafted in the back half of the first round have less than a coinflip's chance of having any sort of NHL career, the Rangers should be thrilled with that projection.

Some of his legendary compatriots on the all-time stat sheet could lead to unrealistic expectations. When it comes to some current and recent NHL household names like Kyle Connor, Zach Parise, Clayton Keller, and Jaden Schwartz? He's earned his place in that conversation. Nobody should count any chickens before they hatch, but Perreault has proven that he is one of the top prospects outside the NHL and has a shot to become the next All-Star forward at Madison Square Garden.

The New York Rangers revealed their third jerseys for the 2023-24 season Friday, as well as a schedule for when they will be worn.

In a pair of videos posted on X, formerly known as Twitter, several players donned the new jersey, and many of them praised the design, including Mika Zibanejad and Adam Fox:

The Rangers announced that they will wear the jerseys 10 times this season with the first occasion being their Dec. 10 home game against the Los Angeles Kings:

The most noticeable feature of the jersey is the large, primary logo crest. Aside from a two-year stint in the 1970s, the Rangers' primary jerseys have not featured that logo on the front, as they instead wear jerseys that spell out "Rangers" diagonally.

It is also atypical for the Rangers to wear navy blue, as their usual home jerseys are royal blue.

The navy color is seemingly a callback to the popular third jerseys the Rangers introduced in 1996, which featured the Statue of Liberty on the front.

Along with the logo and navy blue color scheme, the new third jerseys feature red, white and blue striping on the bottom and the arms.

Regardless of how the jerseys are received by hockey fans, it is likely that the Rangers will sell a lot of them given their popularity and the success of the team this season.

At 16-4-1, the Rangers have 33 points on the season, which is tied with the Boston Bruins for the most in the Eastern Conference and the second-most in the NHL behind only the defending Stanley Cup champion Vegas Golden Knights.

With star players like Zibanejad, Fox, Artemi Panarin, Chris Kreider, Igor Shesterkin and others leading the way, fans will have no shortage of options when it comes to choosing who to represent on their new Rangers jerseys.

Patrick Kane could be back on the ice in the near future.

The three-time Stanley Cup is expected to sign an NHL contract by Thanksgiving amid rehab from hip surgery, according to Larry Brooks of the New York Post.

However, Kane is not expected to return to the New York Rangers, who "have never been in the mix for the right wing," Brooks added.

The Toronto Maple Leafs, Florida Panthers, Buffalo Sabres, Detroit Red Wings, Dallas Stars and Tampa Bay Lightning are among the teams believed to be interested in signing Kane, according to Brooks.

Frank Seravalli of Daily Faceoff reported on Oct. 17 that the Sabres were a team to watch in the Kane sweepstakes as he grew up in Buffalo. Additionally, Seravalli reported that Kane was "keeping an eye on" the Red Wings.

The Athletic's Chris Johnston reported on Oct. 19 that the Panthers had expressed interest in signing Kane this winter, and Sportsnet's Elliotte Friedman added that the franchise had been "aggressive" in their pursuit of the winger.

The Maple Leafs, meanwhile, are considered a "longer-shot contender" to sign the veteran, Johnston reported on Nov. 8.

It's unclear if Kane is looking for a long-term deal or a one-year agreement to prove that he's healthy and can still compete at a high level following a hip resurfacing procedure.

The 34-year-old, who will turn 35 on Sunday, was traded from the Chicago Blackhawks to the Rangers at the 2022-23 season's deadline. While he tallied five goals and seven assists for 12 points in 19 games with the Blueshirts, he ultimately didn't live up to expectations.

Prior to the trade, Kane had spent his entire 15-and-a-half-year career with the Blackhawks, helping the team win three Stanley Cups. He also posted 446 goals and 779 assists for 1,225 points in 1,161 games in Chicago.

With the 2023-24 season in full swing, it'll be interesting to see where Kane ends up and how he can help that particular team's Stanley Cup pursuit.

Patrick Kane's rehabilitation from hip resurfacing surgery in June is going "incredibly well," according to The Athletic's Chris Johnston.

Meanwhile, the Buffalo Sabres and Florida Panthers have shown interest in signing Kane when he is cleared to play, according to Johnston.

Johnston wrote that Kane's team plans to wait until "early November" to consider signing with a team, as "Kane won't be in a position to return to game action before then anyway."

Kane turns 35 on November 19. His agency in September released a video of him publicly skating for the first time since undergoing surgery.

After a midyear trade from the Chicago Blackhawks to the New York Rangers last season, Kane recorded 12 points (five goals, seven assists) in 19 games and six more (one goal, five assists) in seven playoff contests for the Blueshirts.

Prior to his trade to the Rangers, Kane had played the majority of his eight-year, $84 million contract in Chicago, where he helped lead the Blackhawks to the Stanley Cup in 2010, 2013 and 2015. He earned the Hart Trophy in 2016 after leading the NHL with 106 points.

Kane's 2022-23 campaign marked the first time he had recorded fewer than 60 points in a campaign since the 2012-13 lockout season.

Kane's agent Pat Brisson originally told reporters the former Blackhawks star was projected to have a four- to six-month recovery timeline, placing his return to the ice somewhere between October and December.

Washington Capitals center Nicklas Bäckström, who underwent hip resurfacing in June 2022, took seven months to recover before making his comeback to the NHL in January.

Brisson said Kane was expected to fully recover from the procedure, which allows more activity after recovery than hip replacement surgery, according to the Illinois Bone & Joint Institute.

The Sabres make sense as an option for Kane, who was born in Buffalo. Meanwhile, the Panthers have reportedly been "aggressive" as they make their interest in the winger known, per Sportsnet's Elliotte Friedman.

Other potential candidates in the upcoming bidding contest, according to the Daily Faceoff's Frank Seravalli, are the Rangers, who could bring Kane back for another potential playoff run, and the Detroit Red Wings, where Kane could reunite with former Blackhawks linemate Alex DeBrincat.

The next landing spot for star forward Patrick Kane is still to be determined but it appears that a homecoming, a return to a strong team and a move to a former rival all appear to be on the table.

The winger is still a free agent and was projected to miss "four-to-six months" after undergoing hip resurfacing surgery in the offseason. He remains highly sought after, especially for a playoff push, and Frank Seravalli of the Daily Faceoff reported that the Buffalo Sabres, Detroit Red Wings and New York Rangers are contenders to sign Kane.

Seravalli wrote that the Rangers are "paying attention to Kane, while adding the star has also been "keeping an eye on" the Red Wings.

The 34-year-old remains a dominant force in the league. He has scored 451 goals and 1,237 points across his 16-season career, earning four All-Star selections, the 2015-16 Hart Trophy and helping the Chicago Blackhawks win three Stanley Cups.

He scored 21 goals and have 57 points in 73 games between Chicago and the Rangers in 2022-23 and a return to the Big Apple would certainly be appealing if the goal is to win another Stanley Cup. New York won 47 games in 2022-23 and look like a strong contender in the Eastern Conference.

The issue with a return to the Rangers comes with the salary cap as the team has just just $675,085 in salary cap space. While that may be enough to get Kane to agree to a one-year deal and set himself up for a healthy free-agency period next summer, the Rangers are not the best option when it comes to long-term stability.

The Red Wings are an up-and-coming team that is looking to take a step forward in 2023-24. The team has not qualified for the postseason since 2016, which ended the legendary 25-season playoff streak. Detroit has been building, and a dynamic playmaker like Kane could help the young core break through in the loaded Atlantic Division, even if it is nightmare fuel for Blackhawk fans.

Finally, the Sabres may be the most intriguing option. Kane is a Buffalo native, so potentially ending his career playing in front of his hometown crowd may be something of interest to him. The Sabres possess the longest postseason drought (12 seasons) in the NHL, but they do have a young core developing and are also a contender to make noise in the Atlantic.

Wherever Kane ends up, it will likely at least be a team that is in postseason contention, and he certainly could provide a late season offensive spark.