Yanic Perreault

Yanic Perreault
Born	(1971-04-04) April 4, 1971 Sherbrooke, QC, CAN
Height	5 ft 11 in (1.80 m)
Weight	185 lb (84 kg; 13 st 3 lb)
Position	Centre
Shot	Left
Played for	AHL St. John's Maple Leafs NHL Phoenix Coyotes Los Angeles Kings Montreal Canadiens Nashville Predators Toronto Maple Leafs Chicago Blackhawks
National team	Canada
NHL Draft	47th overall, 1991 Toronto Maple Leafs
Playing career	1991–2008

Yanic Perreault (born April 4, 1971) is a retired professional ice hockey player who played thirteen seasons in the National Hockey League.

Playing career

Perreault started his hockey career for the Trois-Rivières Draveurs where he was one of the best offensive players in the Quebec Major Junior Hockey League, racking up a total of 185 points in his most productive season. He was drafted in the third round, 47th overall by the Toronto Maple Leafs in the 1991 NHL Entry Draft.

Carrying a reputation as too slow a skater to succeed in the NHL, Perreault played three years for Toronto's minor league farm team in Newfoundland. Perrault led the St. John's Maple Leafs to a seventh game in the Calder Cup finals in the 1992 season and to first place finishes the following two seasons; his 132 goals and 276 points became in that span, and remain, career records for the Leafs' American Hockey League franchise.

Perrault made his NHL debut in that third season with the Leafs, showing some flash in spot duty, before being traded to the Los Angeles Kings for a fourth round pick in 1994. He spent most of that season with the Kings' minor league affiliate, the Phoenix Roadrunners, scoring 51 goals to lead the team.

The following year was his breakout season, making the NHL for good with the Kings, where he became the team's lead centre after Wayne Gretzky was traded late in the year amidst a full-scale reorganization of the team; Perreault scored 25 goals to finish second on the squad. He played three more seasons in Los Angeles before being sent back to Toronto in 1999, for Jason Podollan and a third round selection. In 2001, Perreault signed with the Montreal Canadiens as a free agent, remaining three seasons before sitting out the lockout year of 2005, after which he signed with the Nashville Predators, with whom he scored 57 points, his NHL career high.

He signed after that single season with the Phoenix Coyotes and was selected to play in the 2007 NHL All-Star Game. On February 27, 2007, Perreault, packaged with a fifth round draft pick, was traded from the Coyotes to Toronto for defencemen Brendan Bell and a second round draft pick, marking his third round of duty with the Maple Leafs.

Perreault signed with the Chicago Blackhawks as a free agent on July 1, 2007. However with his scoring skills diminishing, he retired at the end of the 2007-08 season.

Perreault is often considered one of the best faceoff men in recent NHL history.

Honors and awards

• 1989 QMJHL - Michel Bergeron Trophy (Offensive Rookie of the Year)
• 1989 Canadian Major Junior - Rookie of the Year
• 1991 QMJHL - First All-Star Team
• 1991 QMJHL - Frank J. Selke Memorial Trophy (Most Gentlemanly Player)
• 1991 QMJHL - Jean Beliveau Trophy (Leading scorer)
• 1991 QMJHL - Michel Briere Trophy (Most Valuable Player)
• 2007 NHL - Played in NHL All-Star Game

Career statistics

				Regular season						Playoffs
Season	Team	League		GP	G	A	Pts	PIM		GP	G	A	Pts	PIM
1987–88	Montreal L'est Cantonniers	QAAA		42	70	57	127	14		—	—	—	—	—
1988–89	Trois-Rivières Draveurs	QMJHL		70	53	55	108	48		—	—	—	—	—
1989–90	Trois-Rivières Draveurs	QMJHL		63	51	63	114	75		7	6	5	11	19
1990–91	Trois-Rivières Draveurs	QMJHL		67	87	98	185	103		6	4	7	11	6
1991–92	St. John's Maple Leafs	AHL		62	38	38	76	19		16	7	8	15	4
1992–93	St. John's Maple Leafs	AHL		79	49	46	95	56		9	4	5	9	2
1993–94	St. John's Maple Leafs	AHL		62	45	60	105	38		11	12	6	18	14
1993–94	Toronto Maple Leafs	NHL		13	3	3	6	0		—	—	—	—	—
1994–95	Phoenix Roadrunners	IHL		68	51	48	99	52		—	—	—	—	—
1994–95	Los Angeles Kings	NHL		26	2	5	7	20		—	—	—	—	—
1995–96	Los Angeles Kings	NHL		78	25	24	49	16		—	—	—	—	—
1996–97	Los Angeles Kings	NHL		41	11	14	25	20		—	—	—	—	—
1997–98	Los Angeles Kings	NHL		79	28	20	48	32		4	1	2	3	6
1998–99	Los Angeles Kings	NHL		64	10	17	27	30		—	—	—	—	—
1998–99	Toronto Maple Leafs	NHL		12	7	8	15	12		17	3	6	9	6
1999–00	Toronto Maple Leafs	NHL		58	18	27	45	22		1	0	1	1	0
2000–01	Toronto Maple Leafs	NHL		76	24	28	52	52		11	2	3	5	4
2001–02	Montreal Canadiens	NHL		82	27	29	56	40		11	3	5	8	0
2002–03	Montreal Canadiens	NHL		73	24	22	46	30		—	—	—	—	—
2003–04	Montreal Canadiens	NHL		69	16	15	31	40		9	2	2	4	0
2004–05	Did not play	—		See 2004–05 NHL lockout
2005–06	Nashville Predators	NHL		69	22	35	57	30	1	0	0	0	2
2006–07	Phoenix Coyotes	NHL		49	19	14	33	30	—	—	—	—	—
2006–07	Toronto Maple Leafs	NHL		17	2	3	5	4	—	—	—	—	—
2007–08	Chicago Blackhawks	NHL		53	9	5	14	24	—	—	—	—	—
NHL totals				859	247	269	516	402	54	11	19	30	18
AHL totals				203	132	144	276	113	36	23	19	42	20
QMJHL totals				200	191	216	407	226	13	10	12	22	25

External links

• Yanic Perreault's player profile at TSN.ca
• Yanic Perreault's career statistics at The Internet Hockey Database
• Yanic Perreault's biography at Legends of Hockey