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Prospect Info: Gavin McCarthy, Muskegon (USHL), BU Commit; RD - 86OA, 2023

Dingo44

Dingo44

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theathletic.com

2024 NHL prospect pool rankings: No. 1 Buffalo Sabres

The Sabres have a new wave of prospects coming and their top six or seven are as strong as any group in the league.
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15. Gavin McCarthy, RHD, 18 (Boston University)
McCarthy is a what-you-see-is-what-you-get defenseman who plays the game firm and hard and has pro physical tools but relies heavily on playing off instinct instead of processing, which can come with some warts. He missed part of his draft year with a fractured knee suffered at the World Jr. A Challenge, but was an assertive defenseman at the USHL level when healthy. This year, as a freshman on a top team at BU, he has played a depth role to good defensive results and has seen his minutes slowly rise (he averaged about 11 minutes in the first half of the season, spent games as the No. 7 D, and has averaged about 15 minutes in the second half).

His size, handedness and decisive game have pro appeal. I do find myself wishing he would play with a little more care and poise on and off the puck at times. He just wants to take and take and take, whether that’s attacking off the line into his shot (which he has had less opportunity to do in his relatively limited role as a freshman at BU), stepping up physically in neutral ice, or taking his space in front of the net. I could envision an outcome for him where he becomes a real presence at BU and then in the AHL, but I could also see him being a little too sloppy to successfully make the jump to a changing NHL game. He strikes me as a lesser version of Columbus Blue Jackets first-rounder Corson Ceulemans and actually has some parallels to Strbak as well.
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Gras

Gras

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I still can’t imagine him signing here. He’s locked out of the top 3 long term. He will likely rarely get power play time here, which is key to getting higher salary on his 2nd and 3rd contracts. If you ignore market desirability entirely, going to a place with 2 1st overall d-men under 23. Maybe I’ll be surprised. But given an opportunity to go to any market or situation or here, I have to think the field might win out.
 
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Old Navy Goat

Old Navy Goat

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Gras said:
I still can’t imagine him signing here. He’s locked out of the top 3 long term. He will likely rarely get power play time here, which is key to getting higher salary on his 2nd and 3rd contracts. If you ignore market desirability entirely, going to a place with 2 1st overall d-men under 23. Maybe I’ll be surprised. But given an opportunity to go to any market or situation or here, I have to think the field might win out.
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I think after his formative years in Buffalo and his indoctrination years in Boston, the correct answer is he's running straight to Texas, Florida or Tennessee for recalibration
 
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