Jack Smith is a long-term project with a potentially high reward waiting at the finish line. Let us also hope that the injuries he picked up last year wonвЂ™t derail any future development once he settles into playing higher tempo hockey in the USHL and the NCAA. Smith will certainly be a player to follow moving forward. Important to note here is that Montreal will have plenty of time to develop him and work on any substantial flaws since heвЂ™s still a year removed from even getting to the NCAA. Smart, hard-working goal-scorers are always welcome assets in any organization. It is encouraging to see that he has already, at age 18, understood that you can come a long way by adding skating speed and body strength to a resume that already includes the ability to be a sniper. He is not afraid to put in hard work to improve his overall skill set, which can be seen from the aforementioned examples of him using the off-season to improve his skating and his overall physique. He seems extremely determined and laser-focused on becoming the best hockey player he can possibly be. His coaches describe him as a smart kid, whose hockey knowledge has always exceeded his age. There are articles from his native Minnesota where he is praised as a hard-working, hockey-loving, perfectionist youngster. Should this be seen as a sign that he is not worthy of a draft selection or just that he hasnвЂ™t had enough exposure, playing in an obscure league? He was part of Hockey ProspectвЂ™s little black book, but they did not include him in their final rankings. One might wonder if Trevor Timmins and the scouting team discovered him while they were in Minnesota scouting Biondi, who played in the same league last season.ДЄs we can see from above, the scouting services who even so much as ranked Smith are limited. However, Smith was not a player on our radar.

With players like Martin Chromiak and Zion Nybeck still on the board, the probability of Montreal picking a forward was considerable. Smith was not an expected fourth-round selection. NHL Central Scouting: #169 (North American skaters) He has also worked a lot on his skating to be able to become more all-round and add extra pace to his game. During last year, he added mass and used that extra strength to be more of a force in the retrieving game and when battling for pucks along the boards. Smith is not the tallest player, but he is well-developed physically. Smith creates and finishes offence on the fly and his line with Blake Perbix and Nate Warner has been heralded as вЂњone of the best lines in Cathedral historyвЂќ. There is no question though the Canadiens are drafting him for his potential as a skilled finisher. HeвЂ™s got good lower-body strength, which helps him dominate his peers through his strong skating strides and solid neutral-zone game. Smith is described as a prospect with a great shot who manages to find ways to utilize it. His 10 goals and 19 points in six playoff games shows us that not only did he return from his injuries, but he did so with a vengeance. His average PPG of 2.88 placed him among the top performers in the USHS-MN, just behind fellow Montreal fourth-rounder Blake Biondi. When he was on the ice, he demonstrated why he was such a high USHL draft pick. First, he tore a labrum in his shoulder and then he sprained the MCL in his knee. In a three-game window during December, he was unfortunate enough to suffer two separate injuries which, when combined, sidelined him for half the season. Last year, Smith battled with injuries and was limited to just 17 games, including the playoffs. Smith also declined joining Sioux Falls last year, choosing instead to remain and give it one last hurrah to reach the state championship with St. He also received a tryout for the US National Team Development Program in 2017-18, but declined joining their final roster. In 2018, he was drafted by Sioux Falls as number 13 overall in that yearвЂ™s Phase 1 USHL Draft. He has committed to the University of Minnesota-Duluth for the 2021-22 season and onwards. When healthy, Smith has been a consistent point-producer at the high school level.

The Montreal Canadiens went with offence for the third straight time by selecting forward Jack Smith with their first fourth-round pick.

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