Exclusive | Gabe Perreault is inching closer to making his Rangers dreams a reality

For years, the Rangers have been searching for who they hope Gabe Perreault eventually becomes. The star prospect who finds a way to stick. The top-six piece drafted and developed and then entrenched in the lineup as a threat for years to come. The Chris Kreiders. The J.T. Millers, even if the Blueshirts’ captain took a circuitous route.

Obvious flashes of Perreault’s potential have emerged, such as his Dec. 18 goal in the first game of his current call-up. Obvious places for growth have, too — as his 17-points-in-20-games clip from AHL Hartford hasn’t translated to the NHL yet. But Perreault’s third call-up arrived with perhaps more runway than the first two, with Conor Sheary out for an extended stretch and the Rangers needing an offensive jolt.

This has become the latest audition for Perreault, still just 20 years old and still with just 17 NHL games on his résumé after Thursday night’s matchup with the Sabres at the Garden. And he, just as any prospect, wants to make it impossible for the Rangers — in a critical month of determining the franchise’s direction ahead of the trade deadline — to send him back down.

“It’s kinda what everyone’s goal is when they come up, is to stay,” Perreault told The Post after the Rangers’ morning skate Thursday. “Obviously, it’s never really necessarily your choice, but I think it’s everyone, whenever they get called up, I mean, you want to stay and stay here forever. I think that’s everyone’s dream.”