I too was a bit disappointed about passing on Konecny and Merkley, but I do really like this pick.
While White's numbers. against college teams and USHL teams were a bit lower than Connor's, as noted, this is a lot like Dylan Larkin the year before, who played behind Eichel as the #2 center and didn't get the first unit PP. First unit PP dramatically impacts your point totals. And given he was the team's top defensive center and PKer, this also impacts 2nd unit PP, because you can only play him so much (and US team is pretty stacked with forward depth). Playing second fiddle to Matthews - who was best U18 forward in the program's history - is nothing to feel bad about. That's what has a lot of scouts kicking themselves about Larkin. His #'s were supressed by the same situation a year earlier, and his offensive upside was clearly underappreciated.
What is interesting re his upside though is the international competition where he was going against the best of this draft class, for the most part. There he thrived, leading the U17's in scoring and really lighting it up at the U18's this year, while still playing on the 2nd line behind Matthews. That is no small accomplishments, and as noted, he tore apart Canada in the semi's and scored the goal medal winning goal in the final.
With his skating, he probably compares a bit more to a Matt Duchene or even a Toews type. Might not be that level of scorer, but there is no indication he won't be scoring line center at the NHL level, although his ETA is probably 3 to 4 years. The fact he is really good on faceoffs and good defensively seems be held against him. His primary strength is skating and he has shown he can put up big numbers if given the opportunity.