One of the more active defenders in the camp, playing with a bit of flash and pace, Kerby Perler finds himself sitting at 7th on our rankings here and for good reason. His constant speed, agility, and explosiveness let him pounce on loose pucks in the neutral zone, string together some quick puck handles with some nice edgework to avoid traffic, and gain the blueline with control and speed, backing off defenders and leading the offensive charge. He was able to routinely recognize lapses in neutral zone structure, skate the puck through these areas with ease and be a useful transition piece from the blueline. His brain seemed to work as fast as his feet did which was nice, quick to identify options and utilize some pivots and twists to escape pressure and fire passes up ice, or even short lateral outlet passes to open teammates. Often, I found Perler to be playing bigger than his size, this helped him in protecting the puck, absorbing bodychecks and trucking on, but also when covering ice and getting in the face of puck carriers. Some decent strength in a smaller frame, he had some nice defensive moments suffocating the play as well.

Kirby Perler is one of those players who when you watch play enough you know there is something for there. He has these instances where he will string together a few slicked moves, show off the good speed and skating fundamentals, and have grade-A decision making, and simply dominate for a dozen or so seconds. These bursts of pure skill aren’t necessarily rare in his game, but nor are they routine. Perler has above-average skill, he has soft hands and can protect the puck well, using his frame to box out opponents he can fight off checks and maintain possession. In terms of his shot, Perler has a good wrist shot for his age group that challenges goalies if he has the time to get it off. If Perler can take more risks and chances to make plays I believe it would be highly advantageous to his game; he clearly has the skill to be a “Tier-1” or close to it, type of player it just needs to come to the forefront on a regular basis. In the instances where Perler turns up the heat, he doesn’t look out of place whatsoever and looks confident with the puck. The biggest issue is he enters this zone when the opportunity falls to him, instead of forcing it himself. Perler can improve 1-on-1 skills to create these chances for himself which will only snowball in his favor, he could develop into a dangerous offensive threat.

I thought Perler was the most consistent and effective player throughout the entirety of this game. He was consistently able to get the puck out of danger using either his feet or puck-moving ability, which often kept forecheckers guessing on what his next move would be on retrievals or regroups. I thought he did a great job at holding onto pucks until the last second, inviting in pressure and buying time and space for his teammates as passing options. Overall, I just thought the puck management from Perler was superb in this one as he rarely if ever put himself or his teammates in bad situations.

Perler was the defender on Navy Blue, who I kept noticing shift after shift. He mostly caught my eye as, in the opening frame, he was extremely aggressive defending in the neutral zone and his own blue line. When Kirby was on the ice, Team Red struggled to transition the puck as he was always eager to pounce in the neutral zone and use stick checks to break up passes and attempts to carry the puck. With the puck on his stick, Perler used a stellar combination of evasive mobility and patience to control the flow of the game and ensure transitions occurred with control. When open ice was in front of him, Perler was aggressive in skating out of his zone, through the center of the ice, and entering the offensive third with control. If he didn't have ice in front of him, Perler was an efficient puck distributor and almost always connected on his passes up ice and, on some sequences, sparked fast breaks through stretch passes. In summary, Kirby was incredibly involved in the transition game in both directions, which I value highly in defenders.

Some impressive edgework and vision have Kirby Perler on the list of standouts from this game. On the second Ranger goal of the game, he was able to notice that Ethan Chen remained unchecked in front of the net alone, sending a quick and accurate pass to him as he sat aside the net, he was able to pick himself up an assist on the goal. In the offensive zone he made a particular play that highlighted his agility, being pressed by a defender, he executed a hard stop followed by a quick crossover to regain his speed, effectively juking out the defender and alleviating pressure off himself.

Unafraid to move his feet to ease pressure in his own zone, Kirby Perler showed good mobility with and without the puck in this game. He wasn't entirely mistake-free in this game but I thought by and large he was one of the most dependable players on his teams blueline. In both zones he moves with relative grace, sort of allowing his position to breathe naturally depending on possession and pressure. He takes his opportunities as they come but doesn't rush into crowded areas to take himself out of position. His assist off of a point shot was an example of good things coming to those who wait.

Kerby Perler caught my eye early in the first period when he made a great read at the offensive blueline to force the play back into the offensive zone. His pinch was well timed and resulted in another opportunity for his team, as well as prevented the Team Gray defenders from changing after a long shift. His play with the puck wasn't quite as impressive, however, there were multiple instances of him creating opportunities for his team by making good off-puck reads. I think if he can begin to delegate possession more quickly after forcing these turnovers, he'll become an immensely more valuable offensive player.