He was eligible for the 2018 draft. He wasn’t listed among the 38 North American goalies on the final Central Scouting list. But Jacob Kucharski was.All young goalies are generally crapshoots.
There was no fanfare about Yaniv Perets when he was younger and he was never drafted by anyone. Goalies on really good NCAA teams can put up some epically awesome numbers (Jack LaFontaine 20-21 1.79 GAA .934 Sv%). It's impossible to say if they will be successful pros.
Given the Canes really have no one in the pipeline behind Kochetkov that could be considered a more than likely NHL goaltender at this stage, taking a very low risk flier on Perets seems like a smart thing to do. We don't even need to spend a draft pick, the only capital invested is the $225k the kid gets paid in the minors and as a signing bonus. The only question will be if Perets ends up our #4 or #5 next season and where he will be playing next year.
One more thing...he didn’t sign an ATO with Chicago, so he’s not playing or practicing anywhere until training camp.