Jesse Gabrielle, 2015 4th round pick, off to a hot start in the WHL

Jesse Gabrielle, you may remember, was the subject of some ballot stuffing for our Top 25 Under 25 series this summer. Here's what we said about him then:

I wouldn't go buying his jersey just yet, but you never know. Teams do need rotten little bastards that can skate, and maybe he can do that. He'll get a chance with the Prince George Cougars of the WHL this year.

After last night's game with those same Cougars, he seems to be taking advantage of that chance in the early going. He's got 6 goals through 8 games in the WHL, which is a pretty decent haul for a 4th-round pick overager. His first of the game last night was a breakaway:

And the second was an empty netter, but not the kind where they throw it down from the far end and hope. He really works to make sure that puck is going in the net:

Granted, he's got no assists, and his games break down sort of funny:

In a goal-scoring competition like the NHL, you can never have too much. As for the "rotten little bastard" bit, he's averaging 2 PIM a game, leading all players on his team that haven't gotten a major. (He did get a misconduct last night.) His penalties so far have been a couple Roughings, a couple Slashings, an interference, and two end-of-game Unsportsmanlike Conduct dustups - one as a coincidental with one other player, the other with 3 other players, including Bruins prospect Brandon Carlo. Both Unsportsmanlike Conduct calls came in the last minute of their respect games. So, I guess he's doing okay at trying to be like his favorite player, Brad Marchand.