2023 NHL Draft: Boston College shines bright in round one

The National Hockey League finished the first round of the 2023 NHL Draft on Wednesday night. It was a glorious night, as some supreme prospects were drafted by the clubs that make up the National Hockey League.

One school that had to be taking notes is Boston College. It’s been over 10 years since they have won a National Championship, but now is the time to think that they can.

They already have a great program, but now they are adding three first-round players to the mix, and they are all very good at hockey. This is the second time in four years that BC had three incoming freshmen drafted in the same first round.

Will Smith was selected fourth overall by the San Jose Sharks. He is coming off an outstanding year with the USNTDP where he was one of the best players they’ve ever had. Only Jack Hughes has better all-time U18 USNTDP points per game than Will Smith.

There is no doubt that the BC offense will be getting a major boost by adding this guy. Smith is the highest-drafted BC commit ever.

The 2023 NHL Draft will be giving Boston College a lot of good first-round talent.

Everyone there should be excited. Will Smith would go #1 or #2 in a lot of different years with this production. The Sharks might be even more excited.

Next up is Ryan Leonard. He was taken eighth overall by the Washington Capitals. He scored 51 goals with the USNTDP last year. Now, he looking to be a very good NCAA player before thinking about the NHL.

Gabe Perrault rounds out the top three BC commits taken. He went 23rd overall, as he was selected by the New York Rangers. He is another player that scores lots of goals and finds himself collecting lots of assists from his playmaking.

This trio of first-round Boston College freshmen is surely going to look amazing in college. All three of them have tremendous upside offensively.

They were mostly linemates with the USNTDP, and that may very well stick with them heading to Boston. Regardless, this college season and the World Juniors are going to be great experiences for all these guys. It won’t be long before they are foes in the NHL.