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.
theathletic.com
Rumor: 2024 Trade Rumors and Free Agency Thread: Post Deadline
