C Nathan Smith - Minnesota State Univ. (Mankato), NCAA (2018, 91st, WPG; traded to ARI)

[Whileee]

I'm not sure if Nathan Smith has a dedicated thread on the main prospect board (I couldn't find one), but he probably deserves one.

He's a late bloomer, who has developed into a top NCAA player. He's off to a strong start this season, with 2g and 3a in a couple of road wins vs. UMass.

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[Bonin21]

Is he really a "late bloomer"? He's been putting up numbers consistently since before being drafted.

Maybe more under the radar than anything.

 

[cg98]

Another solid Winnipeg draft pick

 

[Son of Petter]

Currently leading the entire NCAA in scoring

 

[jgimp]

Invite to play for US team

 

[Heldig]

Another solid Winnipeg draft pick

Need to sign him this year, right?

 

[Pavel Buchnevich]

I would be skeptical of this guy. He's the age of players that graduated two years ago. He must be one of the oldest players in college hockey. There's absolutely a huge advantage that comes with playing against predominantly younger players.

Doesn't mean he's not a prospect or that he won't play in the NHL, but if you want to assess his play in college hockey, I'd look to his Freshman season or maybe his Sophomore season where he was playing against players who were closer to his age. This season he's significantly older than the average player he goes against.

 

[ryan callahan]

I would be skeptical of this guy. He's the age of players that graduated two years ago. He must be one of the oldest players in college hockey. There's absolutely a huge advantage that comes with playing against predominantly younger players.

Doesn't mean he's not a prospect or that he won't play in the NHL, but if you want to assess his play in college hockey, I'd look to his Freshman season or maybe his Sophomore season where he was playing against players who were closer to his age. This season he's significantly older than the average player he goes against.

Not even close. NCAA's average age is close to 22. Yeah he is old for college but it's nothing out of the ordinary for NCAA hockey.

 

[WhatTheDuck]

He must be one of the oldest players in college hockey.

Not that your point was completely invalid, Smith is a bit older than your average NHL prospect still playing in college. However, he's really not close to being one of the oldest in college hockey in general. He's 1998 born, there are many 96's and 97's playing D1 right now. Likely more older players than usual due to the pandemic, but it's not uncommon at all for a guy to play out his junior eligibility before breaking into the NCAA, which means they are at least 24/25 by their senior year.

 

[Pavel Buchnevich]

Not even close. NCAA's average age is close to 22. Yeah he is old for college but it's nothing out of the ordinary for NCAA hockey.

Not that your point was completely invalid, Smith is a bit older than your average NHL prospect still playing in college. However, he's really not close to being one of the oldest in college hockey in general. He's 1998 born, there are many 96's and 97's playing D1 right now. Likely more older players than usual due to the pandemic, but it's not uncommon at all for a guy to play out his junior eligibility before breaking into the NCAA, which means they are at least 24/25 by their senior year.

I forgot to consider the extra year of eligibility for many due to COVID. I also probably didn’t consider that some of the smaller teams may add a lot of older players to try to get an advantage that way. To me, that’s ridiculous. I think it’s an unfair advantage. Anyway, I don’t think my general point is invalidated. Most of the players on the teams that are producing NHL’ers are not 23/24/25. They are instead the usual 18-22 of college kids, so at least among NHL prospects Smith is a real outlier. However, I guess I did overstate it slightly, so thank you for the correction.

 

[MardyBum]

I don't rank him too highly with either the Jets, or in general prospects, but he also started off playing roller hockey and didn't start ice hockey until 11, so has always been a bit behind the curve.

Probably not going to be a quality player in the NHL but could be a solid NHL contributor. Helps he can skate well.

 

[GermanSpitfire]

Traded to Arizona