C Will Smith - Boston College, NCAA (2023, 4th, SJS)

Monk

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The nerve

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WhiskeyYerTheDevils

yer leadin me astray
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my original argument was always from an international perspective. The league may be in NA but it is drafting from all over the world.

Un blueuet from saguenay is considered a local boy in quebec. Un ptit gars de chez nous.

Ask your english teacher about it, she'll tell you
That's because it's the closest team to Saguenay. You are proving my point.
 

Bombshell11

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No, it's not a matter of perspective. You were wrong and obviously aren't mature enough to admit it, but yes let's move on.
it is, it so is.
between Carlsson, Michkov and Smith, who's more local? Amarican loco.

forget about Boston, Boston is not in the picture here and we're not talking from a columbus perspective either. Purely american one

i rest my case
 
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Agent Zuuuub

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I saw it mentioned a bit so how is this bad skating?

Especially since he is only 18 and will only get faster and stronger. Seems pretty projectable to being an effective NHL skater.
 
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CBJx614

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I just don't know how you take someone who can get "locked out" of an entire section of the ice and go that's the guy I wanna make a franchise 1C!
 

Ryan Van Horne

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my original argument was always from an international perspective. The league may be in NA but it is drafting from all over the world.

Un blueuet from saguenay is considered a local boy in quebec. Un ptit gars de chez nous.

Ask your english teacher about it, she'll tell you
You are right that somebody from Saguenay would be considered a local boy to the Montreal Canadiens, but that's it.

Will Smith is from Massachusetts, so Boston is his "local" team, not the team in Ohio.

From a marketing/geography perspective, Smith would only be considered "American" in Columbus to the extent that it would have any impact on the Blue Jackets decision-making.
 

Tonneau

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No, it's not a matter of perspective. You were wrong and obviously aren't mature enough to admit it, but yes let's move on.
It can be somewhat ambiguous. Not so in Will Smith's case mind you, but a player from Gatineau is still considered local to Montreal even though Ottawa is much closer. He can also be considered local to Ottawa even though it's in a different province.
 
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TheUnusedCrayon

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I saw it mentioned a bit so how is this bad skating?

Especially since he is only 18 and will only get faster and stronger. Seems pretty projectable to being an effective NHL skater.

His skating isn't bad but it can be bad at times. I'm not sure if it's an endurance issue or what but he can look ultra sluggish at times and then show some really nice edgework at others. Top end speed isn't anything to gawk at though.

One thing about Smith (and you can see it in the video from Twitter you posted) is he makes a lottttt of plays that'll end up being turnovers at the NHL level. One hand poking a puck around a player as the last man back? You're gonna likely get benched by half the coaches in the league for the rest of the game for doing that nonsense because that's an unnecessary turnover begging to happen. Skating into players to get your pass off won't nearly be as effective either.

He's gonna have a major adjustment period of learning how to tackle some of his really really alarming tendencies and that's why I'm very cautioned to his game. A lot of players with great creativity get it coached out of them to try to stay at the NHL level. Some harness it and figure it out but so many also are so desperate to be in the league they become a lot more simplified which takes away a lot of the offense, and Will Smith basically only has his offense to traject him into the NHL. His defense is sub-par, his compete is extremely inconsistent, and he's not a guy that's gonna end up a 3rd-4th line role more than likely.

As good as he can be, he's also a gamble. It wouldn't surprise me in the least if he fell in the draft.
 

Ryan Van Horne

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Dec 1, 2005
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It can be somewhat ambiguous. Not so in Will Smith's case mind you, but a player from Gatineau is still considered local to Montreal even though Ottawa is much closer. He can also be considered local to Ottawa even though it's in a different province.
This is true.

it is, it so is.
between Carlsson, Michkov and Smith, who's more local? Amarican loco.

forget about Boston, Boston is not in the picture here and we're not talking from a columbus perspective either. Purely american one

i rest my case
Good, now move on.
 

Ryan Van Horne

aka Scribe
Dec 1, 2005
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No, it's not a matter of perspective. You were wrong and obviously aren't mature enough to admit it, but yes let's move on.
Let it go. The thread has already been derailed enough and you made your point three posts ago. Resist the urge to have the last word.

8 more hours until he becomes a Hab.
Hearing a lot of buzz Columbus will take him No. 3. Don't get your hopes too high. Either way, though, Habs will end up with a great prospect at No. 5.
 

Juxtaposer

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His skating isn't bad but it can be bad at times. I'm not sure if it's an endurance issue or what but he can look ultra sluggish at times and then show some really nice edgework at others. Top end speed isn't anything to gawk at though.

One thing about Smith (and you can see it in the video from Twitter you posted) is he makes a lottttt of plays that'll end up being turnovers at the NHL level. One hand poking a puck around a player as the last man back? You're gonna likely get benched by half the coaches in the league for the rest of the game for doing that nonsense because that's an unnecessary turnover begging to happen. Skating into players to get your pass off won't nearly be as effective either.

He's gonna have a major adjustment period of learning how to tackle some of his really really alarming tendencies and that's why I'm very cautioned to his game. A lot of players with great creativity get it coached out of them to try to stay at the NHL level. Some harness it and figure it out but so many also are so desperate to be in the league they become a lot more simplified which takes away a lot of the offense, and Will Smith basically only has his offense to traject him into the NHL. His defense is sub-par, his compete is extremely inconsistent, and he's not a guy that's gonna end up a 3rd-4th line role more than likely.

As good as he can be, he's also a gamble. It wouldn't surprise me in the least if he fell in the draft.
I don’t know how many times it needs to be said, but that’s how the NTDP does things. Smith right now has the green light to try absolutely everything and anything in the name of creating offense. And that’s what you want from young players at that age. You want them to experiment and play around, test the limits of what they can and can’t do. Try, fail, learn.

He’ll tighten up his game and play selection in the NCAA and even more when he hits the NHL.
 

TheUnusedCrayon

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Apr 12, 2018
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I don’t know how many times it needs to be said, but that’s how the NTDP does things. Smith right now has the green light to try absolutely everything and anything in the name of creating offense. And that’s what you want from young players at that age. You want them to experiment and play around, test the limits of what they can and can’t do. Try, fail, learn.

He’ll tighten up his game and play selection in the NCAA and even more when he hits the NHL.
And that's understandable but that also carries some risk if you're assessing his game. There isn't a guarantee that because he played for the USNDTP that he's gonna automatically know how to tighten up his game. As is obvious, there's plenty of players that have come through that program that have an already tidied up game.
 

CBJx614

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Simple question I've been wondering a bit lately, why is Smith not already in college similar to Fantilli? Is it simply an age thing?
 

WADEugottaBELAKthat

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Simple question I've been wondering a bit lately, why is Smith not already in college similar to Fantilli? Is it simply an age thing?
In this case it’s a matter of age difference. Although they are only about three months apart, Fantilli is born in late 2004. Smith in early 2005. So basically Smith is a school grade younger and thus his college career starts a season later.

Sometimes though young players will accelerate their high school duration in order to complete high school early/take SAT’s early etc. so theoretically players can be “17 at draft” yet still have completed a season of NCAA.
 

CBJx614

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In this case it’s a matter of age difference. Although they are only about three months apart, Fantilli is born in late 2004. Smith in early 2005. So basically Smith is a school grade younger and thus his college career starts a season later.

Sometimes though young players will accelerate their high school duration in order to complete high school early/take SAT’s early etc. so theoretically players can be “17 at draft” yet still have completed a season of NCAA.
Thanks, that's what I thought but couldn't find any articles about it. I guess I could've just looked at the DOB
 
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