Steel were first in their conference and second in the league his year with them. BU were one of the highest ranked teams all season and went to the Frozen Four. Unless great is reserved for like the best team in the league, I’d consider those pretty great teams.
Yes the Steel were one of the best teams in the USHL that year but that roster was one of the weaker ones compared to previous seasons. B.U. was a good team this year, as were B.C. Denver, Michigan, NoDak...well you get the point, and that is most of the best prospects in the NCAA play on the best teams and you cannot fault Celebrini for that.
USNTDP in their U17 year, which is what we are talking about for Celebrini, are never a good team. The players are all U17 aged players. There are only like 5-10 other players in the whole league that age. They are more talented and all that, but not one of the best teams. They are usually pretty bad as a team by record.
There are about a dozen or so non NTDP U-17 players in the league on average. The fact that one led the entire league (best on his team, best in the league) supports my point that he is a special player. The U.S. U-17 that year was about .500 in league play that season, so I wouldn't necessarily call them a bad team per se but I understand what you are saying in that it may be harder for a team consisting of all 16 year old's to rack up points in the USHL but Hagens 17 year old production in the USHL wasn't that much better than what Celebrini accomplished as a 16 year old and Hagens played on a much better team.
Also, point and accolades only matter so much. There are people on this website and the bird app that will tell you the USHL MVP and Playoff MVP, who is in his U18 year, isn’t a draftable player. I think that’s ridiculous, but the point is that what you see watching games is going to matter too, and I don’t think it’s like a crazy take that Celebrini might have elite point totals in some of these leagues and will have closer to very good point totals in the NHL than elite. Doesn’t mean he’s not going to be very good, but there is a subjective quality to projecting out a skillset to the NHL.
Not sure who would consider Swanson as a player not worthy to be drafted. Swanson does have some issues, however, and that is where the questions come in as to whether his skills can translate to the NHL. There are no such questions concerning Celebrini. His skating is elite. His compete level is off the charts, He has a high IQ, drives his line, plays well off the puck, handles transition, sublime puck skills.....he has no weakness. He will be a franchise level player in the NHL that you build Stanley Cup teams around.
