Gabe Perreault and Drew Fortescue are repeat gold medalists at the World Junior Championship. For the second consecutive year, the 2023 New York Rangers draft picks, who are teammates at Boston College, contributed to Team USA’s championship win. The American team secured back-to-back titles for the first time in the tournament’s history by defeating Finland 4-3 in overtime at the 2025 WJC gold medal game held at the Canadian Tire Centre in Ottawa. Teddy Stiga scored the decisive goal at 8:04 of overtime.
Perreault and Fortescue were part of the gold medal-winning team in 2024 and were key players this year as well. Perreault, a 19-year-old forward selected in the first round by the Rangers (No. 23), replicated his scoring from last year’s tournament with 10 points (three goals, seven assists) over seven games, placing him in a five-way tie for second in the tournament scoring behind his teammate Cole Hutson (11 points). He earned a spot on the All-Tournament team.
The son of former NHL player Yanic Perreault, Gabe recorded one assist and had a plus-2 rating in the championship match. He ranked third in the tournament for assists and tied for second in plus-minus at plus-10, just behind Hutson’s plus-11.
Fortescue, a strong defensive player chosen in the third round by the Rangers (No. 90), did not score in seven games after accumulating four points (one goal, three assists) last year. However, his contributions were crucial defensively. He logged 25:40 on ice during the final, just behind fellow defenseman Zeev Buium, after a game-high 24:37 of ice time in a semifinal win against Czechia. He concluded the tournament with a plus-6 rating.
Perreault, who had a goal and an assist against Czechia and was named the U.S. player of the game, provided a secondary assist on the Americans’ first goal on Sunday. This goal, created by James Hagens with help from Perreault and Ryan Leonard, equalized the game at 1-1 in the first period.
The Finns led 3-1 late into the second period until Brandon Svoboda and Hutson netted goals within 1:53 to tie it up, while Perreault was on the ice for Hutson’s goal.
Perreault’s performance notably improved in the playoffs, highlighting his capability as a clutch player. He scored two goals and assisted twice in the preliminary rounds but was kept off the score sheet during crucial matches against Canada and Finland. However, in three do-or-die games, he excelled with six points (one goal, five assists).
Both players will return to continue their season at Boston College, where they currently hold a No. 2 ranking in the NCAA with a record of 12-3-1. Perreault has amassed 23 points (seven goals, 16 assists) in 16 games and ranks second in points per game at 1.44, having scored in 14 out of 16 games. Last season, as a freshman, he finished tied for fourth in the NCAA scoring with 60 points (19 goals, 41 assists) across 36 games, contributing to the Eagles’ run to the NCAA Championship Game, where they fell 2-1 to Denver.
Fortescue has notched four assists, incurred 36 penalty minutes, and is plus-12 over 16 games this season, following a last season where he scored four goals and had eight points across 40 games for BC.
It’s likely that the Rangers will make a strong effort to sign Perreault once BC wraps up its season, while Fortescue is expected to play at least another season in college.
