Meet Will Smith, the prospect who could blow up every 2023 NHL mock draft this week

Credit: (Photo by Steven Ellis/Daily Fac

NASHVILLE – The crush of reporters engulfing Will Smith was noticeable. Sure, soon-to-be No. 1 pick Connor Bedard had an entire room portioned off for himself to take questions at the 2023 NHL Draft Top Prospects media availability. And projected No. 2 selection Adam Fantilli attracted a swarm, too.

But the sense of excitement surrounding Will Smith Tuesday was palpable considering, on paper, he typically has rated as the No. 5 prospect for Wednesday’s Draft. When the horde questioned him, it almost felt like a hand was being tipped. Is it a given that Smith, a shifty, creative, confident center with dazzling hands, will fall to the fifth spot overall? Holding court for as long as any other prospect did on Tuesday, he was receiving treatment befitting a top-three pick.

The Columbus Blue Jackets hold the No. 3 pick Wednesday night and they have openly stated their intention to draft a franchise center. Assuming the Anaheim Ducks don’t pull a shocker and pass on Fantilli at No. 2, Leo Carlsson has been the projected third-overall selection. But it’s not like the gap between him and Smith is perceived to be significant at all. It’s close enough that it could come down to team preference. And the idea of playing with Johnny Gaudreau is unfathomably exciting for Smith. As he explained Tuesday, being a Massachusetts native, he had a poster of ‘Johnny Hockey’ his wall as a kid. He followed Gaudreau in his Boston College heyday and will continue tracing his career path there coming season, having committed to B.C. for 2023-24. The Smith-Gaudreau connection would just be too easy to make.

If Carlsson goes No. 3? Then the San Jose Sharks have quite a decision to make: Smith at No. 4, or the home run swing on Matvei Michkov, even though he won’t come to the NHL until at least 2026? It’s understandable, then that Smith has found himself at least entertaining the thought of becoming a Montreal Canadien at fifth overall.

“Maybe in my head, but I’m not gonna say, because I don’t want to jinx it,” Smith said.

A couple hours after he spoke those, a report surfaced suggesting the Habs and GM Kent Hughes are considering trading down from their draft slot. Mimicking seemingly ever comic book movie out there at the moment, the 2023 NHL Draft is presenting a multiverse of scenarios. But it’s fascinating how many of them could involve Smith landing in a different place. He’s shaping up to be a “swing pick” in Round 1, a player who could blow up the draft order just like Pierre-Luc Dubois did in 2016 when the Blue Jackets shockingly picked him over Jesse Puljujarvi third overall. Jarmo Kekalainen was GM then, so he’s already established himself as someone willing to do something daring.

And it’s easy to see why a team could be tempted to grab Smith as high as third overall. He has the unmistakably cool, veteran-grade swagger. He’s a whirling dervish at the center position who can stickhandle his way out of a phone booth, one of many American players in this generation who spent their youth studying Patrick Kane.

“He was my favorite player,” Smith said. “Those years where (the Blackhawks) were going to the Cup were special. They beat the Bruins one year which was pretty tough. I loved him. I watched his YouTube clips. It’s his vision and his hands, the way he slows down and he can just create offense out of nothing.”

Smith says he’s constantly looking to do the same: create offense out of nothing and change his speed in the middle of the play to create odd-man rushes and gaps in his opponents’ defensive structure. Smith was unbelievably successful in doing to this past season, too. Forming an all-time dominant line with fellow projected 2023 first-rounders Ryan Leonard and Gabe Perreault, Smith went off for 51 goals and 127 points at the U.S. NTDP this season. Smith’s 191 points across the past two seasons place him second in program history behind Jack Hughes. Smith owned the 2023 Under-18 World Championship to boot, piling up nine goals and 20 points in seven games.

Whichever team selects Smith will get a marketable star who should populate highlight reels throughout his NHL career. But they won’t necessarily get one immediately given he’ll head to BC with his wingers Leonard and Perreault – though he’s quick to point out that none of them will come in making any assumptions about getting to play together. In a best case scenario, Smith will turn pro after the 2023-24 season, whereas Carlsson has a real chance to jump directly to the NHL. Will the Blue Jackets, who made win-now acquisitions already this offseason with Ivan Provorov and Damon Severson, break the tie with the prospect they can insert into their lineup this October?

No one can say for certain. And that’s what makes Smith such an exciting domino for the 2023 NHL Draft. So much talent, such a high ceiling, with the potential to bust every mock draft. He can’t wait.

“Four or five years old, this was my dream,” he said. “Every kid says that, but probably at 13 I was like, ‘Yeah, this is what I want to do. Now I’m here, and it’s a little weird but it’s kinda crazy. It’s fulfilling, but once you get picked it’s a whole new start to my life.”

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Meet Will Smith, the prospect who could blow up every 2023 NHL mock draft this week

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