Boston Bruins Prospect Jesse Gabrielle Is A Prototypical Bruin
Boston Bruins Prospect Jesse Gabrielle Is A Prototypical Bruin
When the Boston Bruins selected Jesse Gabrielle in the fourth round of the 2015 NHL Entry Draft, it’s unlikely that they thought they were going to be getting a 40-goal scorer. Jesse Gabrielle has always been a gritty forward and he’s never been afraid to go to the net. Jesse Gabrielle can be seen as an agitator at times, and while his point totals were never particularly impressive in the WHL, he was able to find himself drafted by the Boston Bruins due to his hard-work and specific skill=set. At five-foot-eleven and 204 pounds, Jesse Gabrielle certainly has the size required to play in the NHL.
In 2013-14, Jesse Gabrielle played in 49 regular season games for the Brandon Wheat Kings in his first season in the WHL. Gabrielle played a solid game as a rookie and showed everybody what his game was about in terms of physicality and as an agitator. Gabrielle scored 12 goals while adding 14 assists and recording 68 penalty minutes and a minus-two rating on the season. In the playoffs, Jesse Gabrielle showcased his ability to step-up at the right time as he scored three goals and notched three assists along with a plus-three rating and 22 penalty minutes in just nine playoff games.
Jesse Gabrielle found himself playing in 33 games for the Brandon Wheat Kings in the 2014-15 season before being traded to the Regina Pats. In 66 games that season, Gabrielle scored 23 goals and 21 assists for 44 points along with 112 penalty minutes and a plus-two rating. Gabrielle was slightly less effective in the playoffs that season as he ended up scoring one goal and adding three helpers for four points in nine games as well as eight penalty minutes and a minus-three rating.
Jesse Gabrielle’s skill-set wasn’t lost on the Boston Bruins despite his average point totals. The game that Gabrielle played was perfect for a bottom-six role on the Boston Bruins and the team selected him with the 105th overall draft pick in the 2015 draft.
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Prior to the 2015-16 season, Jesse Gabrielle found himself traded once again, this time to the Prince George Cougars. Gabrielle said that he “didn’t see the trade coming” but also added that he “wasn’t shocked” either. The trade proved to be a blessing in disguise for Gabrielle, however, as he found his stride throughout the year under his new head coach Mark Holick. In 72 games with the Prince George Cougars this season, Jesse Gabrelle scored 40 goals — more than his entire goal total for the last two seasons combined — and 35 assists along with 101 penalty minutes and a plus-four rating.
Jesse Gabrielle became the youngest Prince George Cougar in the franchise’s history to score 40 goals at 18 years old, and he’s only the second player to ever do so. Jesse Gabrielle also found himself winning the 2016 Dorothy Johnson Memorial Award which is given each season to the “fan favorite” Cougar. Fans love Jesse Gabrielle, and it could be just a matter of time before he’s a “fan favorite” wearing Black and Gold for the Boston Bruins as he was recently offered an Amateur Try Out with the Providence Bruins and was added to the team’s roster on April 8th.
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Todd Harkins, the general manager of the Prince George Cougars, had this to say about Jesse Gabrielle: “Jesse took some major steps forward this season in all areas of his game,” he also said, “We knew we were getting a special player when we acquired him in the summer, and we are thrilled that his first season in Prince George was a successful one. We’re proud of him and he’s very deserving of this opportunity.”
Jesse Gabrielle understands what his skill-set is, and by accepting it and utilizing it to his advantage, he’s been able to develop into the player he is today. “I’ve never been the most skilled guy,” Gabrielle said. “I was never really a finesse guy. I was a north-south guy, just beat the winger because I was always a thicker kid, just kind of beat the defenseman and take it to net hard and play that kind of Big, Bad Bruins way.”
Jesse Gabrielle also mentioned that he models his game after a former fan-favorite Boston Bruin.
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“I was never a guy that wanted to be like Patrick Kane or anything; I wanted to be like (Milan) Lucic, an energy, hard-nosed player.” He also said “When I watched the Bruins and everyone called them the Big, Bad Bruins, that was sort of the thing that caught my eye. I’ve been a fan since.”
Gabrielle could essentially be a bigger version of Brad Marchand if he continues to develop the way he has, and he’s aware of the similarities in their game. “When I saw Marchand for the first time, watching him throughout his career here, I instantly fell in love with the way that he played,” said Gabrielle. “That’s kind of the way that I want to play. I’m not a bigger guy…He’s got a great skill set, that’s kind of what I’ve got to work on. The way that he plays on edge is what I like about him.”
Bruce Cassidy, the head coach of the Providence Bruins, had some thoughts on the comparisons between Brad Marchand and Jesse Gabrielle’s career paths.
“Brad Marchand was a middle-round pick that’s beat the odds, played in the American League, delivered for us, earned his way up – went from the fourth line to the third line to second line to the first line, and beat the odds in terms of people’s expectations when he first started,” – Bruce Cassidy
Cassidy also said:
“I think it’s a great role model. I love Brad, I love his work ethic, love his passion for the game; [he] plays on the edge, but it works for him. And Jesse has some traits here similar to Brad. It’s a great guy for him to model his game after and just find that line and try not to go across it.” – Bruce Cassidy
Jesse Gabrielle showed that despite being drafted based on his particular skill-set, making the NHL isn’t possible by resting on laurels. Hard work has paid off so far for the young forward, and only time will tell if he can continue to develop into a full-time NHL player. Although he was drafted with bottom-six projections, it’s possible that Jesse Gabrielle could continue to exceed expectations and find himself playing even higher in an NHL lineup.