Perfetti picks Scheifele’s hockey brain

Hey there, time traveller!
This article was published 03/10/2021 (1438 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

It’s no accident Cole Perfetti’s locker-room space was located next to Mark Scheifele’s stall during a couple of Winnipeg’s pre-season games.

The Jets don’t just want the teen within earshot of the star NHL centre. He benefits more from being only a hairbreadth away.

Perfetti has been at his chattiest the last two weeks, taking every opportunity to ask the nine-year veteran a long list of questions and seek advice on all things hockey, on and off the ice.

“Yeah, he’s one of the top players in the world, so to be stallmates with him is cool. I’ve been watching him since I was 10 or 11,” Perfetti said this past weekend. “To come to the rink and see what his rituals are, see what he does to get prepared, mentally and physically, there’s lots to learn from a guy like that.

“There’s obviously reasons why he’s at the top level and one of the best in the world, so I just try to soak it in and learn everything I can in a short span to improve my game. He’s a great guy and he’s really helpful, and any time I can pick his brain he’s been giving me really good answers, kind of taking me under his wing and really helping me a lot.”

Scheifele said the impromptu mentorship program has been a win-win situation.

“He’s just a very intelligent hockey player. He thinks the game well. He’s got a high hockey IQ. He wants to understand. He wants to learn. He’s asking questions about my routes, what I think about a certain situation or what I do when I go into a corner to get a puck or whatever,” he said. “He’s one of those guys that wants to absorb as much as he can. I love that. I’m kind of the same.

“It’s funny how learning works that way. Sometimes when he asks me a question, I have to think about what actually processes through my mind in a certain situation like that. So, to be honest it helps me a lot just as much as it helps him.”

Perfetti, who comes across as both personable and professional, has been careful not to overstep. He said Scheifele has been gracious with his time and interest.

“He’s just a genuine guy. He realizes I want to learn from him. Sometimes, you might see guys just brush it off and give short answers but he’s going into depth. You can tell he wants me to get better, he’s trying to help me and make me a better player,” said the 19-year-old from Whitby, Ont.

“I’m trying to take full advantage of that, and any opportunity I can get without bugging him, obviously, just to try and learn from him and get little bits of knowledge here and there any time I can, and he’s been good with that.”

The Jets first-round pick (10th overall) in the 2020 NHL Draft is trying to crack the NHL roster after suiting up for 32 games with the Manitoba Moose of the American Hockey League. He’s in a dogfight with as many as seven others for a handful of spots available on the team’s bottom-two forward units.

The good money’s on a return to the AHL for Perfetti, listed as 5-10, 185 pounds, who would be a godsend for new Moose head coach Mark Morrison. Perfetti possesses elite awareness in the offensive zone, making him a natural play-maker, but the kid can finish, too.

He registered back-to-back 37-goal campaigns (2018-20) with the Saginaw Spirit of Ontario Hockey League, while scoring nine in 32 games earlier this year with Manitoba.

Perfetti has flashed those nimble hands earlier in camp, deking out Jets premier goalie Connor Hellebuyck during scrimmage and then executing a comparably deft move to slip the puck past Ottawa goalie Filip Gustavsson during an exhibition shootout following a 3-2 overtime defeat to the visiting Senators.

He has a lone assist in his three pre-season games (he was dressed Sunday in Vancouver) but has made several smart plays in the offensive zone, while showing some hustle back to provide aid in Winnipeg territory.

Indeed, he’s turning heads — just as Scheifele did in his inaugural training camp appearance a decade ago. Does the veteran forward see some similarities between the two?

“I don’t know, I had four points in my first exhibition game,” Scheifele quipped, breaking up a roomful of reporters, while laughing at his own material. “I’m just kidding. Honestly, he reminds me a lot of myself. He’s a shy, quiet kid that loves the game and has a knack for… has a high hockey IQ and has skill and has the want to be better. I love seeing that in a kid nowadays.”

The two are kindred spirits, of sorts. Few study the game as intently as Scheifele, a self-proclaimed hockey nerd. As a youngster, he spent hours poring over OHL and NHL footage, trying to stockpile tricks of the trade.

Perfetti characterizes himself the very same way.

“I remember Atom hockey, like really young, seven or eight years old, watching highlights on YouTube before games and using them as motivation, trying new things in a game or practice,” he said. “I’ve always been a die-hard hockey fan, always wanted to learn and try new things… see what the best players were doing and implement them into my game.”

Scheifele, who has amassed 201 goals and 507 points in 575 regular-season games, wasn’t an overnight sensation.

The seventh-overall pick of the 2011 NHL Draft was sent back to junior the next two years after he was picked, finally sticking with the club for the 2013-14 season. He’s maintained superstar status since the 2015-16 campaign — his third — when he supplied 29 goals and 61 points in 71 games.

The Jets might take a similarly patient approach with Perfetti, unless the uber-focused forward forces their hand.

“It’s every kid’s dream to play in the NHL. You never really think of it being a reality, you just kind of dream of it and say, ‘What a world that would be to play in the NHL. This is what I wanna do.’ It was kind of like that for me until about 14, 15,” said Perfetti. “Somewhere in there, the OHL started coming (to games), schools started coming to games and it started to sink in that I’m on the path to being in the right direction.

“I’ve only played 30 pro games, most have been in junior, and it’s a big step, so a lot of it is getting comfortable, and you see that a lot with young guys coming into the league. They get their feet wet and used to what it’s like, and then you see them start to get more confidence and they elevate their play, so I’m hoping I can take one step at a time and it be a positive step every day and get closer to where I want to be every single day,” he added.

Jets head coach Paul Maurice talked up the benefits of having the two parked together in the room or rubbing shoulders on the bench.

“(Perfetti) is going to ask those questions and Mark is going to know technically what he’s talking about. And that is really where the greatest learning comes from, player to player,” said Maurice. “The small things about how to take a pass, where to be looking, what to expect from a defender, all the things that Mark has experienced on the ice. Because he’s articulate, he can transfer (that).

“All the best learning comes from the guy you sit beside on the bench.”

jason.bell@freepress.mb.ca

Twitter: @WFPJasonBell