Prospect Profiles: Smith has rewritten Team USA's record book

The NHL draft lottery is May 8, with the Blue Jackets -- who finished with the second-worst record in the league -- guaranteed a top-four pick, including a 13.5-percent chance at No. 1 overall.

With that in mind, BlueJackets.com is taking this week to profile five players -- Connor Bedard, Leo Carlsson, Adam Fantilli, Matvei Michkov and Will Smith -- who will be in the mix to be chosen by the Jackets wherever they fall.

Of course, everyone has different opinions about the draft, and these five players aren't guaranteed to be at the top of the list being produced by general manager Jarmo Kekalainen and his scouting staff. But in looking around at pre-draft projections, Bedard, Carlsson, Fantilli, Michkov and Smith generally are seen by draft observers as the cream of the crop of this year's very deep class, as well as players who all will be high-end NHLers in the years to come.

The profiles have been posted in alphabetical order, with Smith completing the series. The other profiles can be found below:

Connor Bedard | Leo Carlsson | Adam Fantilli | Matvei Michkov

Will Smith: The Vitals

Position:Center

Age:18 (Born March 17, 2005)

Height/Weight:5-11¾, 171

Hometown: Lexington, Mass.

The Accomplishments

• Ranked the No. 3 North American skater available by NHL Central Scouting after posting a 51-76-127 line in 60 games with the U.S. National Team Development Program.
• Is second in USNTDP history for points in a single season behind classmate Gabe Perrault.
• Notched 42 of those points (15-27-42) in 20 games against USHL competition.
• Produced a 9-11-20 line in seven games and was named tournament MVP while leading the United States to gold at the IIHF World U-18 Championship.
• Tied Jack Hughes' American record with 20 points at a single IIHF U-18 worlds tournament and finished one behind Nikita Kucherov's all-time mark of 21 points set in 2011.
• Produced a career 82-109-191 line in 123 games with the NTDP, second most points ever behind Hughes (228).
• Scored 24 points (11-13-24) in 11 career U-18 World Championship games, tied with Cole Caufield for third most in Team USA history behind just Hughes and Phil Kessel.

The Hype

If there was any doubt whether Smith had arrived as a prospect who has cemented himself at the top of the upcoming draft, it might have been removed the past few weeks.

Smith seemingly was steadily moving up draft boards with an impressive season, but his U-18 World Championship will lead USA Hockey to bring out the erasers and rewrite the record book. Smith concluded one of the best seasons ever with one of the best international tournaments for his age in USA hockey history.

Smith was always a highly regarded prospect, but now that he's entered the pantheon of top performers in USNTDP history, he'll likely hear his name called sooner rather than later come June 28.

CBJ Radio · The Pipeline Podcast: Draft Lottery Preview with Chris Peters

"With elite puck skills and the creativity to open up space for himself and others, Smith has turned himself into one of the premier playmakers in this draft class," FloHockey prospects analyst Chris Peters wrote in his midseason evaluation of Smith. "He processes the game at a remarkable pace, which allows him to play faster than many of his peers, even if he's not an explosive skater. He's the kind of player that can make something out of nothing and makes everyone around him better.

"Smith needs to tack on more muscle to be a bit tougher to knock off pucks, but he is having a very special season that has his stock skyrocketing."

Watch: Youtube Video

Smith has committed to Boston College for the upcoming season and looks to be the latest high draft pick to make a big impact at the college level. No matter how you slice it, though, he has the skill, pace and hockey sense to become one of the latest American offensive standouts at the NHL level, and he recently checked in at

third on the list

published by TSN hockey expert Bob McKenzie.

"Every time you go and you watch Will Smith and you're wondering if you have him too high, you leave the arena going, 'No, we don't have him too high,'" Dan Marr, vice president of NHL Central Scouting,

said on a recent episode of the NHL Draft Class podcast

.

"He deserves to be where he's at. He just goes out on the ice and makes things happen. He makes things happen when you need a goal. He does the right things when you're defending the lead. But he has that explosive offensive game that makes him a difference maker out there. When you add in the speed that he has, and he's a pretty focused and pretty competitive individual out there, it just adds up to being an all-around all-star NHL prospect."