NHL Scouts’ Quotes – Perreault/Foerster
April 19, 2020
By Grant McCagg
Jacob Perreault – RW Sarnia OHL 2002-04-15 5-11 192
2019-20 Stats – 57 39 31 70 40 Shoots Right
Ontario-based crossover scout Feb. 2020 – If you base it completely on skill, he goes high. He can playmake too. High upside but low downside. It’s up to him. He can skate, but one has to want to without the puck. He could play second line, maybe higher…or he’s an American Leaguer. It’s up to him. There’s a lot of potential. He’s actually a really good skater. Quick, fast, great shot…he’s got a deceptive shot, but he plays at such a slow pace all of the time, it drives you nuts. He baffles me. I think there’s lots there. He played on a horrendous team. He’s obviously a goal scorer and a shooter but his playmaking is good too.
Ontario-based crossover scout Apr. 2020 – He’s got his attributes. I don’t like his game so much, but he’s very talented. a little fat, he’s a little bit lazy, but he can score…you can’t take that aware from him. You’re taking a chance that the kid’s going to wake up. Maybe he just finds it too easy, I don’t know. I didn’t chase him because our guys weren’t too high on him. He played very well for me once or twice with the puck in the offensive zone, but he’s very lazy…he’s 200 pounds, he’s too big. He scored 40 goals or whatever, but he could have scored more, I don’t think he pushes himself. One of those that you hope the switch goes on with him, that’s all. He’s a good player, but a little more worry on him than some of the others when it comes to that character. I don’t know if he can skate; he never moves. He’s like Morgan Frost in that he likes to slow the pace of the game down. For Frost it was more about the thinking, for Perreault it’s more ‘I don’t want to work that hard.’ He needs to lean out and get a better attitude about how hard he’s got to work.
Ontario-based crossover scout Apr. 2020 – I started watching him on tape; in the games I’d seen him live I’d never seen him score. I know he had scored a lot, but…can he shoot the puck; oh God. He can really fire the puck.
Quebec-based crossover scout Apr. 2020 – He improved his skating a lot. He can shoot the puck and make plays, everything offensively is really good, but it’s another guy who has little interest in playing defensively. I have time for him, though. I think he has a lot of upside personally. He has offensive instincts. He can’t be that high, though, because he doesn’t have a complete game. He’s only a little interested in playing offensively.
Tyson Foerster – RW Barrie OHL 2002-01-18 6-0 1.5 194
2019-20 Stats – 62 36 44 80 Shoots Right
Quebec-based crossover scout Feb. 2020– I do see the upside there. There are guys who you don’t like their feet, and you ask yourself is it strength-related, is it technical, is it something to be fixed or is it a fatal flaw? Those are the question you have to ask yourself, and try to use your experience with other guys who had skating issues…that’s the only way you can do it. I don’t think he’ll ever be a great skater, but I think it can be adequate to efficient, and strength will have a lot to do with it. I just think he needs to work on his quickness and conditioning. He works out but I don’t think he’s done a whole lot of it. The hockey part he’s good. He can shoot it, he can make plays. He knows how to find soft spots…he’s got a lot of good attributes. Obviously, there is a certain amount of risk, and at a certain point in the draft I would go by him. But there’s a point in the first round that I would take him.
Ontario-based crossover scout Apr. 2020 – I keep reading about him going there (top 31), but I’d be worried abut taking him in the first. If Foerster misses because of his skating, he misses. With Lundell, I think he still finds a way to play. He’s a similar style player to (Tyler) Toffoli. He gets compared to Stone a lot, but they’re compete level is not even close. When you can’t skate, and you don’t want to battle for pucks, that’s a tough combination.
Quebec-based crossover scout Apr. 2020 – It’s his skating…looks like it’s a lower body issue…strength, so I’m not thinking that it’s a fatal flaw. I watched him play a game where he competed and he pushed…he falls off pretty quick because he doesn’t have lower body strength, so that’s how you figure it out. But he’s got some size, strong upper body, just needs to get in shape I think. He’s a shooter, can play on the power play and has some playmaking options. I think defensively…he knows how to play, it’s just hard for him to get back. It’s hard for him to stop and go, so he cheats a bit. It’s harder to defend when you play like that. He’s more of a raw projection. If it all comes together you’ve got a pretty good player. I just think that he’s gotta get his feet going. It wasn’t there every night, but I saw some games where he competed. After they made the coaching change he played a little bit more responsibly, a little more competitive.
Ontario-based crossover scout Apr. 2020 – I love the way Foerster can score and that strong stick; I just don’t like the skating stride. I think I’d have to go with the goal scorer in Foerster over Lundell.