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C Will Smith - San Jose Sharks , NHL(2023, 4th, SJS)

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GermanSpitfire said:
William Smith at eliteprospects.com

Projects as one of the top American players for 2023. Solid two-way player already at this point and is one of the better ‘05’s, if not the best out of America for the 2023 NHL draft.

NCAA Commitment: Northeastern

QMJHL Rights: Gatineau Olympics
QMJHL American Draft: Gatineau Olympics (R1, 2021, #9 Overall)


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Low hanging fruit upon saying "Will Smith slaps this one in the top corner."
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Ed Ned and Leddy said:
I really appreciate Smith’s game. If he’s not a top 10 selection, he’s a guy I’d be very interested in Detroit taking in the early/mid teens.
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Is Smith a first line center for the team? Who is second line center and does Leonard plays a wing position?
 
For people who what him, what does he project are the NHL level? First Line Upside?
 
He’s underrated for sure at this point. I still think if the Badgers didn’t suck that Stramel’s physical tools project with the best upside but both Smith and Musty has been very good so far this season so there’s a few legitimate options for the first American selected in 2023. I like Moore and Leonard and Perreault but Smith is clearly the top choice from the USNT.
 
BKarchitect said:
He’s underrated for sure at this point. I still think if the Badgers didn’t suck that Stramel’s physical tools project with the best upside but both Smith and Musty has been very good so far this season so there’s a few legitimate options for the first American selected in 2023. I like Moore and Leonard and Perreault but Smith is clearly the top choice from the USNT.
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Smith has some up and down games imo. He has some great tools, but I personally love Ryan Leonard’s game and would pick him very high.

I think the race for first American picked in the draft will really be interesting. Musty, Leonard, Smith, Stramel, and Moore could almost go in any order depending on what a team values in a player. Even Hunter Brzustewicz has looked awesome this year imo.
 
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MichaelFarrell said:
Smith has some up and down games imo. He has some great tools, but I personally love Ryan Leonard’s game and would pick him very high.

I think the race for first American picked in the draft will really be interesting. Musty, Leonard, Smith, Stramel, and Moore could almost go in any order depending on what a team values in a player. Even Hunter Brzustewicz has looked awesome this year imo.
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I wouldn’t rule out someone like Smith or maybe someone else could make a run at top 10, but I have a hard time believing Stramel isn’t at least second, if he ended up not being first. We aren’t going to have like a 2019 draft where we get a lot of top 10-15 draft picks. 5th or 6th best American might will end up at the end of the first. Stramel will be in the top half of the first round. Very hard to believe the Americans could go in any order. What I would believe is that any of those players could make a run at challenging Stramel for first.

The player I would definitely add to that list is Jayson Shaugabay. He has 7 points in his first 8 games. I think he’s the most skilled American player in this draft. Sawchyn with 11 points in 7 games could make a run at best American. McCarthy with 5 in 7 (defenseman) could do so also. Danny Nelson hasn’t had a fast start to the season, but has a lot of intriguing tools. A lot of good American candidates that right now are not considered in the top tier of prospects in this draft. Some of these players are going to be first round picks.
 
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Pavel Buchnevich said:
I wouldn’t rule out someone like Smith or maybe someone else could make a run at top 10, but I have a hard time believing Stramel isn’t at least second, if he ended up not being first. We aren’t going to have like a 2019 draft where we get a lot of top 10-15 draft picks. 5th or 6th best American might will end up at the end of the first. Stramel will be in the top half of the first round. Very hard to believe the Americans could go in any order. What I would believe is that any of those players could make a run at challenging Stramel for first.

The player I would definitely add to that list is Jayson Shaugabay. He has 7 points in his first 8 games. I think he’s the most skilled American player in this draft. Sawchyn with 11 points in 7 games could make a run at best American. McCarthy with 5 in 7 (defenseman) could do so also. Danny Nelson hasn’t had a fast start to the season, but has a lot of intriguing tools. A lot of good American candidates that right now are not considered in the top tier of prospects in this draft. Some of these players are going to be first round picks.
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I think Stramel could go before guys like Will Smith, but I personally wouldn’t pick him first or second at this point based solely off of my viewings this year.

I stand by the fact that they could go in any order. If you want a guy with speed, motor, and great hands: Oliver Moore. You want a big power winger with a great shot and solid offensive instincts: Quentin Musty. You want a center with speed, a great shot, and strong puck possession: Will Smith.

It’s still very early in the year, but from what I’ve seen so far my rankings for American players this year go like this and I’d be interested to see yours:

1. Ryan Leonard
2. Will Smith
3. Charlie Stramel
4. Quentin Musty
5. Oliver Moore
6. Hunter Brzustewicz
7. Gabe Perreault
8. Gavin Brindley
9. Danny Nelson
10. Gavin McCarthy
 
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WeThreeKings said:
He seems to have better hands and quicker processing with the puck than Norris did at the same points in their careers.
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Agreed, Norris saw insane development post draft. At the time of their drafts, Smith is defenitly the more highly regarded player with better offensive insticts.
Norris was seen as a “safe“ athletic beast 3rd liner, but it wasn’t until his trade to Ottawa where he saw his development skyrocket and become what he is today.
 
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MichaelFarrell said:
I think Stramel could go before guys like Will Smith, but I personally wouldn’t pick him first or second at this point based solely off of my viewings this year.

I stand by the fact that they could go in any order. If you want a guy with speed, motor, and great hands: Oliver Moore. You want a big power winger with a great shot and solid offensive instincts: Quentin Musty. You want a center with speed, a great shot, and strong puck possession: Will Smith.

It’s still very early in the year, but from what I’ve seen so far my rankings for American players this year go like this and I’d be interested to see yours:

1. Ryan Leonard
2. Will Smith
3. Charlie Stramel
4. Quentin Musty
5. Oliver Moore
6. Hunter Brzustewicz
7. Gabe Perreault
8. Gavin Brindley
9. Danny Nelson
10. Gavin McCarthy
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Took the day to think about this.

1. Stramel
2. Smith
3. Brindley
4. Nelson
5. McCarthy
6. Sawchyn
7. Shaugabay
8. Musty
9. Brzustewicz
10. Augustine

HM’s: Leonard, Moore, Hendrickson, Minnetian, Strathmann, McDonough, Perreault, Whitelaw, Cleveland, Fischer

I think this is a strong American draft, but lacks a little in name brand. The U18 NTDP group usually drives a lot of the hype for an American draft, and this team is weaker in that area. It has a lot of other prospects that aren’t part of that team, so some of them are more under the radar. My main complaint is that I think Stramel is the only top half of the first round player, but I could see like 10 of the next 32 after that being American. There are a lot of second half of the first round/first half of the second round level players.

Been saying for a long time that Stramel’s exactly the type of player fans will underrate and he’ll go higher than they expect. He’s a better version of Gauthier, at the very least, and Gauthier went 5OA last season. I think Gauthier was 5-10 spots overdrafted and the upcoming draft is supposed to be stronger, but I have a hard time believing he’s not top 10, and really top 15 at the absolute minimum. Wisconsin is an average team so he likely won’t put up the numbers of Fantilli or Brindley this season as a late birthday playing their draft season in the NCAA, but Wisconsin’s last late birthday to play their draft season in the NCAA was Dylan Holloway. He had 17 points in 35 games, and went 14OA. I’d say Stramel should be expected to do a little better than that.

I haven’t watched any NTDP games yet this season. From highlights and stats, it looks like Smith has blown up and gotten a lot better. I can buy that. I had him as the highest ranked of the 2005’s, but I couldn’t have him much higher than about 20th. I viewed him as a good player, but not a real high-end playmaker/sense player. Good in those areas, but not a guy I think would ever reach 45 assists in an NHL season. If he’s improved, maybe I can move that up about 5 spots and he’s about a top 15 pick. I just don’t see him quite reaching Stramel, but I haven’t seen him play this season, so maybe I’ll change my mind.

Brindley has the size questions. Big fan, but maybe a slightly lesser version of Marco Rossi. His point totals will be inflated this season, but he’s a good player. Nelson has moved up for me a lot since the summer. I know he hasn’t had the best start to the season, but I thought I probably had him too low in the summer. He’s a little inconsistent, I’m not sure he’s a center or a great playmaker, but he’s 6’3, could play center, scores goals, can skate, and has enough playmaking/sense. He’s also young for the draft. Almost guarantee he’s a Gauthier type of riser. Not sure he quite reaches 5th, but I’d be very surprised if he doesn’t go top 20, and very possibly top 15. Someone will take the gamble that he ends up as Brock Nelson.

McCarthy is tough for me to get a read on. He looked talented but a little error prone both summer tournaments the last two years for the USA. I liked what I saw a lot more playing for Muskegon, and he seems to have started the season well. I’m cautiously trusting my evaluation that he’ll be a top 5 defenseman in this draft, but he could also go the other way. Sawchyn has elite skill/skating, but last season didn’t score like you’d think. He’s now playing WHL this season. I haven’t seen him play yet this season, but it sounds like he’s figured out the scoring component. He’s so skilled that he could be one of the leading scorers in that league and absolutely blow up. He’s second on that good Seattle team in scoring right now. Shaugabay has similar skill/skating. The question for me is less the production issues Sawchyn had last season. I haven’t seen any of Shaugabay’s games this season and for some reason he was left off the Hlinka team. I’ve seen less of him than the others on this list of late, so I’m trusting an evaluation from his summer U17 performance for the USA and that he scoring very well during the season both seasons. That ranking is a little volatile. Not many people seem to like him as much as I do for now.

Musty is a boring player. Don’t love his game. Can get tunnel vision, his skating is only average, and I don’t think he’s that good offensively, but he’s also 6’4, skates well enough, has offense, and some physicality. If Reid Schaefer was a first round pick, Musty is too. Brzustewicz is leading a very good OHL team in scoring early on. Last I checked he has double the points that Cam Allen does. Brzustewicz is another boring player. Don’t think he’s a PP1 or PK1 guy in the NHL or that he’ll play 25 minutes per game, but kind of a safe bet to be a 4/5. Augustine is just that good of a goalie that I thought he had to be included. I think he’s the best goalie in this draft and the best American goalie since Knight. Commesso went 46OA, and Augustine is better than him. He’ll be similar or better statistically, has the same level of good positioning/sense, and is a quicker goalie.

I’d probably have Leonard next. He’s a limited player, but I wouldn’t be surprised if he’s a first round pick due to his skating, motor, puck skills, and goal scoring. Moore is boring, but effective. Lacks a little upside, but I think he’s pretty good. Hendrickson is similar to Snuggerud for me, but a little worse. Better skater, but scores a little worse. He’ll probably get drafted lower than Snuggerud did, but it shouldn’t be too much lower. He’s injured right now. Minnetian and Strathmann are almost the same player. Minnetian right handed and Strathmann left-handed. They are like Faber/Hreschuk mold defenseman. Faber on the high end, Hreschuk the low end. Only 5’11-6’0. Very good skaters and pretty good defensively, but lack a little offensively. Upside a little limited, but good players. McDonough has some Tyler Boucher in his game. He can score, he has good size, he’s very physical, and his skating isn’t too bad. One of my upside picks for this draft. He’ll go higher than most people think right now.

Perreault is a good offensive player, but not sure about the skating for his size and that he’s a little too perimeter. He can score though. Whitelaw is small and has tunnel vision sometimes, but if it all goes right he’s like a Stankoven without the muscle. Cleveland is a huge defenseman, his puck game is better than most his size, and doesn’t skate terribly. Maybe he’s Alex Vlasic. I think that’s the hope. He could also become Adam Samuelsson, who didn’t get drafted, so the range of outcomes is wide. Fischer is similar to Ryan Lindgren as a draft prospect. Maybe a little worse. Needs to improve his puck game a little, which Lindgren did, but otherwise a tough defensive defenseman that isn’t the tallest, but is physical, good positionally, and can skate.
 
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Smith extended his point streak tô 12 games!
Does anyone know what the longest scoring game streak in NTDP história was? Or is there a list of the biggest ones?
 
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