Yanic Perreault

{{Infobox ice hockey player

| image = Yanic Perreault - Los Angeles Kings.jpg

| image_size = 230px

| caption = Perreault with the Los Angeles Kings in 1996

| played_for = Toronto Maple Leafs
Los Angeles Kings
Montreal Canadiens
Nashville Predators
Phoenix Coyotes
Chicago Blackhawks

| league =

| position = Centre

| shoots = Left

| height_ft = 5

| height_in = 11

| weight_lb = 185

| ntl_team = CAN

| birth_date = {{birth date and age|1971|4|4|mf=y}}

| birth_place = Sherbrooke, Quebec, Canada

| draft = 47th overall

| draft_year = 1991

| draft_team = Toronto Maple Leafs

| career_start = 1991

| career_end = 2008

}}

Yanic Jacques Perreault (born April 4, 1971) is a Canadian former professional ice hockey centre who played a total of fourteen seasons in the National Hockey League. He is often considered one of the best face-off men in league history and holds the NHL record for the highest face-off winning percentage in a career (62.86%) as of the conclusion of the 2023-24 NHL season.{{Cite web|url=https://records.nhl.com/records/skater-records/face-offs-since-2005-06/highest-faceoff-win-pctg-career|title=Highest Face-off Winning Percentage, Career (Minimum: 500 Face-offs)|website=NHL.com|access-date=March 8, 2024}}

Playing career

As a youth, he played in the 1983 and 1984 Quebec International Pee-Wee Hockey Tournaments with a minor ice hockey team from Sherbrooke, Quebec.{{cite web|url=https://www.publicationsports.com/ressources/files/439/Joueurs_Pro.pdf|title=Pee-Wee players who have reached NHL or WHA|year=2018|website=Quebec International Pee-Wee Hockey Tournament|access-date=2019-01-19}}

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.{{cn|date=January 2019}}

Carrying a reputation as too slow a skater to succeed in the NHL, Perreault played three years for the St. John's Maple Leafs, Toronto's American Hockey League affiliate. Perreault 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.{{cn|date=January 2019}}

Perreault 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.{{cn|date=January 2019}}

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.{{cite web |last1=Wharnsby |first1=Tim |title=Perreault signs with Canadiens |url=https://www.theglobeandmail.com/sports/perreault-signs-with-canadiens/article18416097/ |website=The Globe and Mail |access-date=March 6, 2023 |date=July 5, 2001}}{{cite web |title=Preds sign forward Yanic Perreault |url=http://www.nashvillepredators.com:80/pressbox/news.asp?story_id=532 |website=Nashville Predators |access-date=December 11, 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20051214041553/http://www.nashvillepredators.com:80/pressbox/news.asp?story_id=532 |archive-date=December 14, 2005 |date=October 3, 2005}}

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.{{cn|date=January 2019}}

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.{{cn|date=January 2019}}

Coaching career

On October 4, 2013 − one day ahead of the second game of the season - the Blackhawks announced they had hired Perreault to help the team improve its face-off success rate.{{Cite web|url=http://www.nbcchicago.com/blogs/madhouse-enforcer/Former-Hawk-Perreault-Enlisted-to-Help-Team-With-Face-offs-226414141.html|title=Former Hawk Perreault Enlisted to Help Team with Draws}} Perreault is also head coach for the Chicago Mission 2005 youth team.

Personal life

Perreault's has four children, sons Jacob, Jeremy and Gabe, and a daughter Liliane. All of his children also play ice hockey.{{cite web |url=https://www.nhl.com/news/jacob-perreault-following-yanic-perreaults-advice-on-path-of-reaching-nhl/c-318969676 |title=2020 Draft: Perreault following dad's advice on path of reaching NHL |publisher=National Hockey League |website=NHL.com |first=Mike G. |last=Morreale |date=September 11, 2020 |access-date=May 1, 2023}}{{cite web |url=https://theathletic.com/4420509/2023/04/27/gabe-perreault-2023-nhl-draft/ |title=How Gabe Perreault made history and shot to the top of the 2023 NHL Draft |publisher=The Athletic |first=Scott |last=Wheeler |date=April 27, 2023 |access-date=May 1, 2023}}

Career statistics

= Regular season and playoffs =

border="0" cellpadding="1" cellspacing="0" style="text-align:center; width:60em"
bgcolor="#e0e0e0" ! colspan="3" bgcolor="#ffffff"\| ! rowspan="99" bgcolor="#ffffff"\| ! colspan="5"\|Regular season ! rowspan="99" bgcolor="#ffffff"\| ! colspan="5"\|Playoffs
bgcolor="#e0e0e0" ! Season ! Team ! League ! GP ! G ! A ! Pts ! PIM ! GP ! G ! A ! Pts ! PIM
1987–88 \| Cantons de L'Est Cantonniers \| QMAAA \| 42	70	57	127	14 \| 8	12	10	22	6
bgcolor="#f0f0f0" \| 1988–89 \| Trois-Rivières Draveurs \| QMJHL \| 70	53	55	108	48 \| 4	0	0	0	7
1989–90 \| Trois-Rivières Draveurs \| QMJHL \| 63	51	63	114	75 \| 7	6	5	11	19
bgcolor="#f0f0f0" \| 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
bgcolor="#f0f0f0" \| 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
bgcolor="#f0f0f0" \| 1993–94 \| Toronto Maple Leafs \| NHL \| 13	3	3	6	0 \| —	—	—	—	—
1994–95 \| Phoenix Roadrunners \| IHL \| 68	51	48	99	52 \| —	—	—	—	—
bgcolor="#f0f0f0" \| 1994–95 \| Los Angeles Kings \| NHL \| 26	2	5	7	20 \| —	—	—	—	—
1995–96 \| Los Angeles Kings \| NHL \| 78	25	24	49	16 \| —	—	—	—	—
bgcolor="#f0f0f0" \| 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
bgcolor="#f0f0f0" \| 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
bgcolor="#f0f0f0" \| 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
bgcolor="#f0f0f0" \| 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 \| —	—	—	—	—
bgcolor="#f0f0f0" \| 2003–04 \| Montreal Canadiens \| NHL \| 69	16	15	31	40 \| 9	2	2	4	0
2005–06 \| Nashville Predators \| NHL \| 69	22	35	57	30 \| 1	0	0	0	2
bgcolor="#f0f0f0" \| 2006–07 \| Phoenix Coyotes \| NHL \| 49	19	14	33	30 \| —	—	—	—	—
2006–07 \| Toronto Maple Leafs \| NHL \| 17	2	3	5	4 \| —	—	—	—	—
bgcolor="#f0f0f0" \| 2007–08 \| Chicago Blackhawks \| NHL \| 53	9	5	14	24 \| —	—	—	—	—
bgcolor="#e0e0e0" ! colspan="3" \| NHL totals ! 859 !! 247 !! 269 !! 516 !! 402 ! 54 !! 11 !! 19 !! 30 !! 18