It was the festival of the compliment, last week in Buffalo, at the evaluation camp of the National League for the draft. The many hopes of the United States National Development Program (USNTDP) have been particularly spoiled.
In bulk, the most beautiful flowers sent:
We spare you the praise about Will Smith. But Perreault and Smith, for what it’s worth, finished the season with 132 and 127 points, respectively. They broke the USNTDP single-season record of 117 points, which belonged to a guy named Auston Matthews.
Most mock drafts call Smith a top-five selection. NHL Central Scouting ranks him 3rd in North America, ahead of Leonard (5th), Moore (8th) and Perreault (10th).
This is the second year in a row that the American program has taken up so much space in the discussions. Last year, Logan Cooley was drafted 3rd, followed by Cutter Gauthier (5th), Frank Nazar (13th) and Rutger McGroarty (14th). All attackers. None of these players have yet played in the NHL, however, so it will be a few years before we evaluate these picks.
On the other hand, the portrait of the 2019 draft is starting to become clearer. This vintage had been historic for the USNTDP; eight of its members had been drafted in the first round, including seven in the top 15. “We admire them. These players have set a standard and we try to live up to it,” Moore said of them.
A reminder from members of this top 15 grand cru:
1- Jack Hughes (NJD)
5- Alex Turcotte (LAK)
9- Trevor Zegras (ANA)
12- Matthew Boldy (MIN)
13- Spencer Knight (FLA)
14- Glass York (PHI)
15- Cole Caufield (MTL)
Hughes is coming off a 99-point season. Michigan poutine isn’t unanimous, neither is Zegras’ Michigan goals; Still, with his spectacular maneuvers, Zegras has just had two 60-point seasons in a row. Caufield was on course to break the 40-goal mark this season before getting injured. Boldy: 31 goals, 32 assists in 2022-23.
Knight and York, respectively goalkeeper and defender, will take longer to develop.
The attentive reader will therefore have noted that Turcotte is the only one who has not been named so far. It’s that he still hasn’t broken into the NHL, having played only 12 games there, without getting a point. Even in the American League, his offensive impact is long overdue; he’s been limited to 17 points in 32 games at Ontario this season. At 22, he still has time to get his career back on track, but let’s just say he would fall far behind Zegras, Boldy and Caufield if the 2019 auction were to be repeated.
However, the son of Alfie Turcotte was unanimous. Recruiters consulted by La Presse at the time expected him to be selected 3rd or 4th. “A competitor who is also very talented,” summed up a scout. Renowned TSN colleague Bob McKenzie, who has a well-stocked contact book, ranked him 4th hope. In short, the choice of the Kings respected logic, for a player whose overall game was praised, failing to turn heads with his skills.
The only caveat: his attitude, considered a tad too confident during his meetings with the teams. This arrogance was also evident in interviews with the media at the evaluation camp in Buffalo.
The challenge for recruiters this year, a challenge that will arise for the Canadian in 5th place, will therefore be to identify the real drivers of the USNTDP this season, and those who benefited rather from an ultra-talented entourage like, in hindsight, Turcotte .
One of the issues: Leonard, Smith and Perreault have spent most of the season together. “It’s funny, they call it the development program, but it would have helped to give them the chance to play apart. We would have liked to see them with other players,” lamented an NHL scout on condition of anonymity.
With his vision of the game considered phenomenal, will Perreault be able to feed his teammates to the next level, despite his average skating? Leonard may have the spirit of the Tkachuks, but he is listed at 6ft and 192lbs. Can he be as intimidating as the two brothers when he faces men?
Kent Hughes is well aware of the difficulties of evaluating players in this program. “When you evaluate a player in the American program, they are the best young people in the country, warned the general manager of the Canadian, Thursday, in Buffalo. But some will become third or fourth line players, 5 or 6 defensemen. They will not all be placed in the same context that they have known all their lives. We have to evaluate that too. Often, a player has potential that we have not seen because he has not been placed in this context. »
We can therefore wonder, for example, if Oliver Moore was not a victim of the stability of the first line. However, he remains a good prince. “Everyone is good on this team. You can’t mope about the fact that you play in the second line. »
