Gasseau has intriguing qualities that will stand out to many teams at the draft. He is a huge center with good skating and defensive awareness. He has the potential and ability to become an effective middle-six forward at the next level, but needs to improve on a few things if he wants to contribute more offense. He has good skating ability for his size, having a strong stride, able to generate acceleration well when given space. He has the ability to turn on the jets in the neutral zone. He’s solid on his edges and is able to stop and go efficiently, covering a lot of ice, though he could improve his lateral mobility to create more space for himself. He uses his size well, protecting and controlling the puck well along the boards. On the penalty kill he looks very confident and doesn’t look overwhelmed or out of place, always in good position to take away space and willing to block shots. He uses his reach to his advantage, able to take away space very effectively with good stick placement to poke and steal pucks away. He struggles sometimes with making offensive zone entries, often losing the puck by defending poke checks and stick lifts. He is more successful when dumping the puck in and applying a strong forecheck to go retrieve it. His decision-making with the puck is a concern at times too, giving it up too quickly and easily when under pressure, making poor passing choices, forcing plays that aren’t there, and trying to make the skilled pass instead of the smart pass. With his size you’d like to see him utilize his body more and bring more of a physical presence to his game. There are times where he can make an impactful hit to take away possession, but elects instead to try and poke the puck away, without success. Gasseau could become an NHL player one day, but likely only in a bottom-six role.

– FCHockey’s 2021 NHL Draft Guide