It’s been a year to remember for Will Smith.
He won a gold medal as a member of the United States team at the U-18 World Championship in April. He was taken fourth overall by the San Jose Sharks in the NHL Draft in June.
And on Saturday night he’ll play his first NCAA game.
“I’ve been looking forward to this moment my whole life, so to finally get to put on the Boston College jersey will be pretty special,” the 18-year-old Smith, a communications studies major, said after practice on Monday.
As much as Smith is anticipating his college debut, a road game against defending national champion Quinnipiac, so are BC’s coaching staff and fans.
The Eagles have had dozens of NHL draft picks, but none taken as high as Smith (Lexington, Mass.). The hype is a lot to live up to, but Smith has been a superstar at every level and he’ll thrive in college, too.
From the Boston Junior Eagles to St. Sebastian’s, his offensive credentials have been unquestioned. He spent the last two seasons with the U.S. National Team Development Program making highlight-reel plays. Last season he put up a 51-76-127 line in 60 games.
His defensive play has not been a strong point, but when you have the puck and are making play after play, that’s understandable. It is a part of the game that he’ll be expected to work on at BC as he prepares for pro hockey.
“He reads plays very well. He’s got to be aware of that on the defensive side of the puck,” said BC coach Greg Brown.
“You can get away with some things at the younger age levels that you can’t get away with now. You can’t just sniff around and hunt the puck, you have to have good body position. He’s going to be playing against guys that are excellent at puck protection and moving the puck quickly. You can’t just be a shark waiting to steal it. You have to be more committed than that. Will’s no different than the other freshmen. That’s one of the big adjustments for them.”
The rebuilding Sharks, of course, have a lot on the line with Smith, their top prospect. They’ll be watching closely.
“Obviously his skill set and his hockey sense are what come to the forefront as things he’s good at,” said Todd Marchant, San Jose director of player development and senior adviser.
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“I always look at areas that a young player can improve on. Getting bigger, stronger, faster. That’s a given for most players that are just drafted. The next time that we see him in San Jose, has he put on some weight? Has he gotten stronger in the gym? This will all translate to the on-ice portion of his game. And the other part, on ice, is getting better defensively.”
Not all players, especially high draft picks, are coachable. But that’s not the case with Smith.
“He’s a very smart player and when you tell him something, he instantly digests it and tries to make the adjustment in his game. From the short time that we had him at development camp (in July), he was very receptive to the things we were talking about. When you come to these development camps, we’re not teaching systems. We’re teaching concepts. How can you be on the right side of the puck in the defensive zone? How can you position yourself to be better available for a puck in the offensive zone? Those are things that we’re teaching and he was very receptive to those different things,” said Marchant.
“One of the guys that we mentioned to him was Patrice Bergeron. Patrice was never going to beat anybody in a one-on-one race, but his brain took over and his skill set and his ability to play a 200-foot game. There was no better guy for Will to watch, or would have been able to watch and to learn from, than somebody like him. We told him, if you can emulate some of the things from his game – faceoffs, another area Will can continue to improve on — it’s a great role model to look up to.”
Smith is ready to put in the work. “(Defensive) zone is a huge thing. You’re not going to win the game just in the offensive zone,” he said.
Marchant and other members of the Sharks development staff probably will watch Smith in person eight times in the first half of the season.
“It’s creating that communication, that relationship with the player, so he understands it’s not just come in and see you once and then we’ll see you next year. We want him to know he’s a big part of our organization and we want to show him that,” he said.
It remains to be seen if BC uses Smith with his NTDP linemates and fellow BC freshmen first-rounders Ryan Leonard (Amherst, Mass.) and Gabe Perreault against Quinnipiac. Brown wasn’t showing his hand after Monday’s practice, though the three freshmen were together for some drills that day.
Marchant noted that trying different line combinations is a constant in hockey at the highest level.
“(Perreault-Smith-Leonard have) had a lot of success. It would make sense to put them back together and see where it goes. Now that doesn’t mean that it’s going to stay that way. You look at great lines in the NHL right there in your backyard. The Boston Bruins had Bergeron, [David] Pastrnak and [Brad] Marchand and they continued to switch those guys up to get better lines going. It’s never set in stone.”
For his part, Smith is ready to go no matter who his linemates are.
“It’s up to coach,” he said. “Whatever happens, happens. I love playing with those two guys, but playing with anyone will be great.”
Quinnipiac will raise its national championship banner before Saturday’s game. Regardless of the final score, there will be lessons to be learned for the Eagles, college hockey’s youngest team.
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“To play a very mature, outstanding Quinnipiac team will be a fast learning experience for our kids,” said Brown. “It’s certainly not the easiest first game you could have, but I think it will up our learning curve, to see what can be attainable if you have a great season. To see the intensity and detail that Quinnipiac plays with will be great for our guys.”
