Cohen Proclaims Sharks’ Smith Already Has IQ Better Than Half of the NHL originally appeared in NBC Sports Bay Area
Joe Thornton and Patrick Marleau. It could Macklin Celebrini and Will Smith Will this be the next dynamic duo for the San Jose Sharks?
Jonathan Toews and Patrick Kane. Will Celebrini and Smith be the partnership that leads the Sharks to their first Stanley Cup?
That’s a lot to pile on Celebrini, 17, is practically guaranteed to be the Sharks’ No. 1 pick in the 2024 NHL Draft and the 2023 fourth overall selection, Smith, fresh out of Boston College.
But ESPN and Daily Faceoff’s Colby Cohenwho has also played in over 300 NCAA, AHL and NHL games, is not afraid to put that weight behind Celebrini and Smith.
They should be so good.
“I would expect these two guys to hoist Stanley Cups together,” Cohen told San Jose Hockey Now. “In five or six years, I think the San Jose Sharks will be in very, very good shape with these two guys if [Mike Grier] makes the right moves and surrounds them with the right guys. Because these are special players.”
But of course the Sharks haven’t called up Celebrini yet – the headline is Smith, who signed on Tuesday.
Looking forward to next year, Cohen discusses what’s so special about Smith, whether he needs some seasoning in the AHL, the defensive challenges he’ll face in the NHL, whether he’ll play center or wing next season, and Cohen’s expectations for Smith’s debut campaign. .
Sheng Peng: Was this a situation where Will Smith perhaps had nothing to gain by staying in the college game? Do you think Smith is ready for the NHL?
Colby Cohen: I don’t necessarily agree with the first part of that.
I watched Will play in the NCAA Tournament and attended all of his NCAA Tournament games.
I had the opportunity to actually watch him play in the playoffs and everything.
I think this kid is good enough to play in the NHL.
He’s not making a bad decision. I think if he was a defender it would be a little different. Because I think as a forward you can develop while playing in the NHL. I think for defensemen, it’s a lot harder to develop while you’re in the NHL, just because the position is a lot harder. I think this is a good step in your development.
I really think the college game, the regular season, I think it’s probably a little too easy for him, he can get away with floating and he can get away with things that he couldn’t at the NHL level. So in that regard, I believe this was a good decision for him.
But the strength part, I think is important. I saw him play against Denver [in the National Championship game], against a stronger and more structurally sound team, and he went through difficult times. He didn’t dominate that game.
I saw him play against Quinnipiac in the regionals and I saw him play against Michigan Tech, they’re bigger, older, stronger teams, and he didn’t get what he wanted in those games like I watched him during the regular season.
So I don’t think it’s a bad move by any stretch of the imagination because he’s a forward, but I think he could have used another year of college hockey. That wouldn’t have shocked me.
You look at his results at the World Cup, he didn’t go there and light it up. He was the 13th forward, alternating with Ryan Leonard.
A little bit of that [was] opportunity, you have to play against the NHL players that come there. I understood.
I think the world of this kid’s ability. He is a very big boy. His hockey IQ, his vision, all those things, are at an NHL level. But he’s a teenager and teenagers sometimes struggle in the NHL. I think he will have his growing pains.
SP: Of course. I shouldn’t characterize this as an obvious move for Will. There are still college teams and games that can challenge you…
CC: But not enough. Insufficient.
You’re playing against BU, you’re playing against some of these top teams, it’s one thing. But most nights you don’t play those teams. After the year he’s had, bad habits will likely start to creep into his game.
I think a lot of people, Sheng, are actually saying that he wouldn’t have gained anything if he went back to college. I’ve heard this from countless people. Even talking [to] the organization of São José.
I thought, look, he dominated the regular season, but in the tournament he was a little quiet. He did. He didn’t dominate the NCAA tournament like I would love to see him do.
I thought Celebrini really dominated the games. He didn’t dominate the Frozen Four game, but he dominated regionals and dominated in the playoffs. I thought Cutter Gauthier, he played big boy hockey for most of the NCAA tournament except the National Championship game. I thought about Smith, I thought about Perreault, I thought those guys were good, but I didn’t think they were as good as they were in the regular season.
But I think he will be successful as a teenage NHL player. Because what he does well, he already does better than half the championship. And he never stepped foot in the league.
SP: What does he do better than half the NHL?
CC: Just his hockey IQ. He is just two steps ahead of everyone else at the college level.
It’s as if he’s preparing a tennis shot. You watch [Novak] Djokovic plays, Djokovic, he lands two shots just to set up his third shot.
Will Smith could do it at the NCAA level. He was moving pucks and players like he was playing a board game with the ultimate understanding of how a play would end. One thing that was so impressive about him was his hockey sense. He understood the game at a very, very high level.
SP: Is there any reason for Will Smith to play in the AHL?
CC: I don’t think he’s destined to step foot in the American League. I saw his quote about this the other day, I think he’s being humble. He’s leaving, I think, because he was told he would be in the NHL, or he wouldn’t have left.
I’m glad he’s humble. I have to meet him sometimes. He’s quiet. He is humble. He is polite.
I think he’s the type of player you put in the NHL.
You let him learn how to be an NHL player in the NHL. I just think he’s probably too advanced to play in the American League. He needs to be surrounded by NHL players to be able to play his game.
He played on a line with NHL players all year long. He played with Perreault, he played with Leonard, he played with Gauthier. These are all future NHL players.
You put them in the American League, a league I know very well because I spent my entire career there. This league is chaotic. There are a lot of guys who have no hockey sense.
I don’t foresee that happening.
That’s not something that I have inside information on, but I’m just saying, from what I’ve seen, in my experiences, I think he’s a player that, even if he struggles in the first half of the season, you’re going to leave him there.
Will Smith is the type of kid who will learn to play and develop in the NHL just because he’s so good.
SP: Is Smith ready to play center at the NHL level?
CC: I think he’ll probably see some time on the wing.
Obviously, you want to place the player where he feels most comfortable. I think he’s the type of guy that needs to have the puck on his stick. He is a facilitator. I think centers generally have the puck on their stick more.
But he will probably have to learn to play wing because it is difficult at 19 years old to play center in the NHL.
I’ve said this before about Macklin Celebrini, I think this is exactly why he needs to leave BU, as much as I would love for him to come back, it’s because he’s ready to be an NHL center now. Like few guys his age, Connor Bedard wasn’t ready to play center this year in the NHL.
So I think Will Smith will probably get a look at center and probably play some wing.
SP: What do you think of Smith defensively?
CC: When you watched him at BC this year, I actually thought he defended well. His line always had the puck, so they were never in the defensive zone.
But when you watch him on tape, playing in those NCAA games, like he wasn’t a mess in the defensive zone, he played pretty responsibly, he just didn’t need to do it a lot.
For Will this year, it’s just going to be a big adjustment because he’s going to be without the puck a lot more. That’s where he’s going to have to learn: what do I bring to the table when I don’t have the puck on my stick?
When he has the puck on his stick, whether he’s in the NHL or not, he’s probably one of the best players on the ice with the puck on his stick. Even at the NHL level, on day one, he’s going to be better than most guys when the puck is on his stick. But what will he do when he doesn’t have it?
And next year in San Jose, he won’t be on the stick for the entire game like he was at Boston College. So I think learning to play away from the puck and just learning how to make quicker defensive reads.
But I think it’s all players who enter the NHL. I dealt with it and I’m not comparing myself because these players, these guys, are so much better than me. But when you get to the NHL, you need to be able to make defensive reads and decisions very quickly. This will be part of your growing pains.
He’s such a smart player that I think he’ll figure it out quicker than people think. I don’t think he’s a one-dimensional player, not by a long shot.
I don’t think he’s as complete a player as Macklin defensively. But I think he is more complete than many people realize and probably give him credit for.
SP: I tend to agree, Will’s performance in the World Junior medal games tells me he’s someone who will rise to the occasion defensively when needed…
CC: That is a 100% accurate statement. The World Juniors is a great representation of okay, I have to play a little smarter. This is playoff hockey, it’s elimination in one game.
SP: How many points did Smith score in his rookie year?
CC: It’s hard to say because you don’t know what the team is going to be like, right?
Here’s what I’ll say about him, come the end of the season he’ll be part of the conversation for Rookie of the Year. Macklin too.
Your biggest competition may be your teammate.
SP: Celebrini seems to project perfectly as the best player on a future playoff team and Smith seems to fit in as the ideal No. 2. I don’t want to put a cap on Will’s ceiling, but can you see that?
CC: I think you hit the nail on the head. I think you have your Toews and your Kane.
Look at any of these dynamic duos, be it Crosby and Malkin. I know these players are a little different in the way they play. But yeah, I would expect these two guys to lift the Stanley Cup together. Both are very good.
In five or six years, I think the San Jose Sharks will be in very, very good shape with these two guys [Mike Grier] makes the right moves and surrounds them with the right guys. Because these are special players.
These are elite guys, who look like they’re going to be elite players in the NHL, not just All-Star caliber players, players who will play on their Olympic teams.
I think there is a huge benefit to having them together. Toews and Kane entered at the same time.
Everything these guys have shown us, whether it’s the World Juniors, whether it’s the NCAA seasons, whether it’s the USHL, whether it’s the NTDP, like the numbers match the bigs, they match the Kanes, they match Matthews, they match all these guys with all these things.
That’s what I see. I see these two being a dynamic duo and doing a lot of damage in the NHL.
SP: And why is it good that they enter together?
CC: They will go through many experiences at the same time.
Their clocks, their contracts, arriving at the same time on the ground floor. Who knows if they will end up living together?
Because it will be a difficult year. They both come from winning situations.
I think they will push each other. I think they will both want to be the best. Just like Kane and Toews, these two guys were each other’s biggest competition, but their biggest support, healthy competition. They both wanted to lead, they both wanted to make big plays.
